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Just trying to help...

ljlljl Posts: 819 ✭
in General Discussion
So I'm out having a few cocktails with the guys from work. One sees me prepping my stogie and he starts asking some questions. Turns out he's in a wedding party and the blessed event is in about a month. He wants to surprise everybody with some great sticks.

I offer to set him up - gratis. He asks what I have and I reply a bit of everything, I assure him I won't be giving him any duds. He wants brands etc. so I name a few...then I ask if he is looking for something specific. No he says, I'm gonna check your sh*t on line to see if it's worth it. I try to explain that price isn't everything and he wants to know what my most expensive sticks are. At that point I tell him I'm just trying to help and let it drop.

I was trying to be gracious, WTF went wrong???

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    Stryker808Stryker808 Posts: 269 ✭
    I had something similar happen to me too. I think the perception of guys that are casual cigar smokers is that they want to impress their friends, usually other casual smokers with the name brands they have heard of to be the best ie monticristo, romeo y julieta, etc. and that come with a heafty price tag and a matching reputation. I don't think they have enjoyed enough cigars to find out what they really like or what their friends enjoy in terms of body and profile. Most of the time these guys ask is it "cuban" do you have any "cubans" etc. Hey I don't think they mean any harm they probably just want to be good guys and impress their friends on this special occasion.....although checking prices of gifted cigars on line to see if its worth it is a little disrespectful.....Maybe hook em up with some of the old standbys with big names, monticristo, fuente, RyJ etc, most people tend to like them and you won't offend they guys that are into cigars. well good luck....I don't know you but .......yes you are a good BOTL for helping these guys out. To offer to set em up is what we do.....good job.
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    bigharpoonbigharpoon Posts: 2,963 ✭✭✭
    What went wrong is your friend has no manners. Sheeesh.
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    fla-gypsyfla-gypsy Posts: 3,023 ✭✭
    bigharpoon:
    What went wrong is your friend has no manners. Sheeesh.
    +1! There is more to a good smoke than price. I will smoke a good $2-3 stick any day and there are plenty of them around if you bargain shop
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    gdsim1gdsim1 Posts: 213 ✭
    fla-gypsy:
    bigharpoon:
    What went wrong is your friend has no manners. Sheeesh.
    +1! There is more to a good smoke than price. I will smoke a good $2-3 stick any day and there are plenty of them around if you bargain shop
    +1 Sounds like your guy's most important consideration is impressing people with a label & maybe a price tag... rather than a good smoke, which is where his head SHOULD be at.

    Here's hoping that his cigar bar is chock full o Sol Cubano Artisans! Try this - next time you talk to him, tell him that something came up & you had to get rid of your smokes... meaning HE is going to have to pay for his cigars. See if that changes his viewpoint any. :-)

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    lilwing88lilwing88 Posts: 2,812 ✭✭✭
    No good deed goes unpunished.......
    Guns don't kill people, Daddies with pretty daughters do…..
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    NYHCx516xNYHCx516x Posts: 728 ✭
    lilwing88:
    No good deed goes unpunished.......
    + 1 million to that one my friend.
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    rwheelwrightrwheelwright Posts: 3,296 ✭
    ljl:
    So I'm out having a few cocktails with the guys from work. One sees me prepping my stogie and he starts asking some questions. Turns out he's in a wedding party and the blessed event is in about a month. He wants to surprise everybody with some great sticks.

    I offer to set him up - gratis. He asks what I have and I reply a bit of everything, I assure him I won't be giving him any duds. He wants brands etc. so I name a few...then I ask if he is looking for something specific. No he says, I'm gonna check your sh*t on line to see if it's worth it. I try to explain that price isn't everything and he wants to know what my most expensive sticks are. At that point I tell him I'm just trying to help and let it drop.

    I was trying to be gracious, WTF went wrong???

    He is probably an arrogant *** who needs to have his as kicked and his wife/gf **** right in front of him!
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    xmacroxmacro Posts: 3,402 ✭
    lilwing88:
    No good deed goes unpunished.......
    +1 What a little ingrate!! I say buy some White Owls, put Monte Cristo labels on 'em, and start handing them out and watch the fun when everyone starts remarking what a fine, smooth, excellent cigar you gave them

    EDIT - this reminded me of the Camacho promo, The Black Band Project; even though it's a promo, the video's make a good point about some cigar smokers: http://www.blackbandproject.com/

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    SquatchitoSquatchito Posts: 41 ✭
    You see this same crap in the world of wine all the time. I'll sit there and explain this wine or that wine, why this would be good for the persons needs. 90% of the time it is one ear and out the other until words like "90 points," "Wine Spectator," and "Wine Advocate" come up. Then all the sudden they snap to attention like a shot went off and immediately grab the wine.

    Doesn't really bother me. But it is easy to embrace when it is making you money. Doesn't really matter how much they are going to like it or dislike it. They can use the above buzz words to impress friends.
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    ug danug dan Posts: 375 ✭
    I would'nt go out of my way to help after being treated that way. I would give him my latest catalogs and wish him luck. Maybe give some suggestions but I would'nt be breaking into my own stash.
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    kuzi16kuzi16 Posts: 14,633 ✭✭✭✭
    you can always tell who is a true cigar smoker and who isnt. the ones who are know what a good cigar is worth. those who arent "only smoke cubans"
    Kuzi's Forum Links Page
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    laker1963laker1963 Posts: 5,046
    Hey Larry, don't sweat it. Some people just can't be helped. You already did your good deed by trying to help him out and offering him up free sticks.

    Ar=fter the response you got from him... I would just give him C.COM's web address and tell him to look around the site and let him pick and pay for his own. Then maybe he will see there are thousands of sticks out there and they don't all have to carry a "Brand" name to be good. But hey, you tried to help, so let him figure it out for himself. You are still providing him with the address so he can still do his thing.

    You are a great BOTL Larry.
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    sightunseensightunseen Posts: 2,130 ✭✭
    Similar situation just happened to me today, minus the ungrateful attitude. My coworker's brother's wife is going to have a baby and wanted to get a few singles. Knowing that it's expensive buying singles, I offered to hook him up, to which he gladly accepted. The only downside was when I asked him if he knew what his brother wanted. His reply was, "He likes Dominicans. Probably on the mellow side"

    I suppose I have some "mild" Camachos I can part with, but I'll feel bad if his brothers puked after the baby is delivered. 5 Vegas Gold it is.
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    Amos_UmwhatAmos_Umwhat Posts: 8,462 ✭✭✭✭✭
    xmacro:
    lilwing88:
    No good deed goes unpunished.......
    +1 What a little ingrate!! I say buy some White Owls, put Monte Cristo labels on 'em, and start handing them out and watch the fun when everyone starts remarking what a fine, smooth, excellent cigar you gave them

    EDIT - this reminded me of the Camacho promo, The Black Band Project; even though it's a promo, the video's make a good point about some cigar smokers: http://www.blackbandproject.com/

    this sounds like an excellent solution, my bet is he'll never know what he missed
    WARNING:  The above post may contain thoughts or ideas known to the State of Caliphornia to cause seething rage, confusion, distemper, nausea, perspiration, sphincter release, or cranial implosion to persons who implicitly trust only one news source, or find themselves at either the left or right political extreme.  Proceed at your own risk.  

    "If you do not read the newspapers you're uninformed.  If you do read the newspapers, you're misinformed." --  Mark Twain
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    fla-gypsyfla-gypsy Posts: 3,023 ✭✭
    sightunseen:
    Similar situation just happened to me today, minus the ungrateful attitude. My coworker's brother's wife is going to have a baby and wanted to get a few singles. Knowing that it's expensive buying singles, I offered to hook him up, to which he gladly accepted. The only downside was when I asked him if he knew what his brother wanted. His reply was, "He likes Dominicans. Probably on the mellow side"

    I suppose I have some "mild" Camachos I can part with, but I'll feel bad if his brothers puked after the baby is delivered. 5 Vegas Gold it is.
    That's funny, 5 Vegas Gold is a safe pick.
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    Dark_RoastDark_Roast Posts: 1,070 ✭✭✭
    Maybe it was the booze talking. Maybe he is an ungrateful a$$. Maybe he wanted to act like he knew something about something he knew nothing about. Good luck, sice he is a coworker you will be able to figure him out.
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    bandyt09bandyt09 Posts: 4,335 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Remember, people reserve the right to remain ignorant. You did all you could do. Booze or nor booze he showed very little class.
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    MrMokeMrMoke Posts: 321 ✭✭
    When I entered the workforce, close to 30 years ago; there were some old timers at my first job that when I expressed any sort of dismay at the way people acted or reacted towards any kind act from me would say to me "what do you expect from a pig but a grunt". Those words have echoed pretty true many times throughout my life. There is also somewhere in the Bible (probably where these old guys got their saying from) where it tells you not to "cast pearls before swine" I can't tell you where it says that I was never good at quoting scriptur, but; that my friend is exactly what you did, don't feel bad about it you did nothing wrong! Some day he may see the light, but apparently not real soon ;)
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    ljlljl Posts: 819 ✭
    Thanks for all the positive feedback fellas! I talked to him a few times at work tonight, he didn't bring it up. I just leave the ball in his court and see where he takes it.
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    sightunseensightunseen Posts: 2,130 ✭✭
    fla-gypsy:
    sightunseen:
    Similar situation just happened to me today, minus the ungrateful attitude. My coworker's brother's wife is going to have a baby and wanted to get a few singles. Knowing that it's expensive buying singles, I offered to hook him up, to which he gladly accepted. The only downside was when I asked him if he knew what his brother wanted. His reply was, "He likes Dominicans. Probably on the mellow side"

    I suppose I have some "mild" Camachos I can part with, but I'll feel bad if his brothers puked after the baby is delivered. 5 Vegas Gold it is.
    That's funny, 5 Vegas Gold is a safe pick.
    Yea. He needed three singles so I ended up giving him a RP Connecticut, 5 Vegas Gold, and a Gurkha Park Avenue. I dropped it off at this desk just a minute ago and he gives me $20. I told him very clearly that those sticks cost me at most $4 each and that I had intended on gifting it to him anyways. He insisted and called the $20 a "finder's fee." Haha, I guess I can't argue with that.
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    ironhorseironhorse Posts: 469 ✭
    sightunseen:
    fla-gypsy:
    sightunseen:
    Similar situation just happened to me today, minus the ungrateful attitude. My coworker's brother's wife is going to have a baby and wanted to get a few singles. Knowing that it's expensive buying singles, I offered to hook him up, to which he gladly accepted. The only downside was when I asked him if he knew what his brother wanted. His reply was, "He likes Dominicans. Probably on the mellow side"

    I suppose I have some "mild" Camachos I can part with, but I'll feel bad if his brothers puked after the baby is delivered. 5 Vegas Gold it is.
    That's funny, 5 Vegas Gold is a safe pick.
    Yea. He needed three singles so I ended up giving him a RP Connecticut, 5 Vegas Gold, and a Gurkha Park Avenue. I dropped it off at this desk just a minute ago and he gives me $20. I told him very clearly that those sticks cost me at most $4 each and that I had intended on gifting it to him anyways. He insisted and called the $20 a "finder's fee." Haha, I guess I can't argue with that.
    haha, sweet. I think you should set up a little office business. Unseen Smokes, delivered right to your desk for a small delivery fee. 30 mins or less.
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    fla-gypsyfla-gypsy Posts: 3,023 ✭✭
    ironhorse:
    sightunseen:
    fla-gypsy:
    sightunseen:
    Similar situation just happened to me today, minus the ungrateful attitude. My coworker's brother's wife is going to have a baby and wanted to get a few singles. Knowing that it's expensive buying singles, I offered to hook him up, to which he gladly accepted. The only downside was when I asked him if he knew what his brother wanted. His reply was, "He likes Dominicans. Probably on the mellow side"

    I suppose I have some "mild" Camachos I can part with, but I'll feel bad if his brothers puked after the baby is delivered. 5 Vegas Gold it is.
    That's funny, 5 Vegas Gold is a safe pick.
    Yea. He needed three singles so I ended up giving him a RP Connecticut, 5 Vegas Gold, and a Gurkha Park Avenue. I dropped it off at this desk just a minute ago and he gives me $20. I told him very clearly that those sticks cost me at most $4 each and that I had intended on gifting it to him anyways. He insisted and called the $20 a "finder's fee." Haha, I guess I can't argue with that.
    haha, sweet. I think you should set up a little office business. Unseen Smokes, delivered right to your desk for a small delivery fee. 30 mins or less.
    I am going to turn a few guys onto cigars and set up a workplace delivery deal for them. Yeah, the 21st century pusher.
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    fla-gypsyfla-gypsy Posts: 3,023 ✭✭
    MrMoke:
    When I entered the workforce, close to 30 years ago; there were some old timers at my first job that when I expressed any sort of dismay at the way people acted or reacted towards any kind act from me would say to me "what do you expect from a pig but a grunt". Those words have echoed pretty true many times throughout my life. There is also somewhere in the Bible (probably where these old guys got their saying from) where it tells you not to "cast pearls before swine" I can't tell you where it says that I was never good at quoting scriptur, but; that my friend is exactly what you did, don't feel bad about it you did nothing wrong! Some day he may see the light, but apparently not real soon ;)
    Matthew 7:6 is the verse you are seeking.
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    63Pro63Pro Posts: 38 ✭✭
    Haaahaaaa! fla-gypsy, you are so right! But this is true with any mature wise advice. 
    In this instance, the groom isnt asking the right questions which is alerting us to his immature experience or NO experience with cigars. Once we are alerted to this, we can ask questions of him to the point of saying, "Ok, so you dont really know what you want, let me suggest................, if he takes your advice great! If not, just catch and release. :)
    No one ever learned anything by doing right the first time!
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    CharlieHeisCharlieHeis Posts: 8,175 ✭✭✭✭✭
    63Pro said:
    Haaahaaaa! fla-gypsy, you are so right! But this is true with any mature wise advice. 
    In this instance, the groom isnt asking the right questions which is alerting us to his immature experience or NO experience with cigars. Once we are alerted to this, we can ask questions of him to the point of saying, "Ok, so you dont really know what you want, let me suggest................, if he takes your advice great! If not, just catch and release. :)
    This thread is from eight years ago. Most involved are long gone.
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    63Pro63Pro Posts: 38 ✭✭
    I figured as much, but it was a good topic even applicable today. :)
    No one ever learned anything by doing right the first time!
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    Bob_LukenBob_Luken Posts: 10,095 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Yeah, I read through the posts anyway even after I figured out how old they were. Sometimes talking to new guys (novices) turns out to be a waste of time. I try to keep it simple.   
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    ForMudForMud Posts: 2,336 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I wonder how the wedding went. :)
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    Amos_UmwhatAmos_Umwhat Posts: 8,462 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I miss a lot of those guys.  
    WARNING:  The above post may contain thoughts or ideas known to the State of Caliphornia to cause seething rage, confusion, distemper, nausea, perspiration, sphincter release, or cranial implosion to persons who implicitly trust only one news source, or find themselves at either the left or right political extreme.  Proceed at your own risk.  

    "If you do not read the newspapers you're uninformed.  If you do read the newspapers, you're misinformed." --  Mark Twain
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