smoke shop incidents: the strange aftereffects of California, with bonus 'donuts'

[edenfalling]

Tonight I had a brief conversation at cross-purposes with a customer until I realized he was under the impression that nonfilter American Spirit cigarettes must cost more than filtered American Spirits. This is true for Camels, but American Spirit only charges extra for organic tobacco; the presence or absence of filters is a non-issue in terms of price.

He was pleased to know he wouldn't have to spend extra. After I sold him the pack of cigarettes, I asked if he wanted matches. "They're complimentary with purchase of tobacco," I told him.

"Really?" he said. "Wow -- nobody's offered me matches in nine years! Of course, I've been living in California."

I decided not to ask for clarification.

He took the matches. Then he pulled a small quartz crystal from his pocket and offered it to me as a tip.

...

Am I supposed to blame that on California too?

---------------

In other smoke shop weirdness, Charlie (one of our regular customers) brought in a box of "donuts" for us to enjoy. This is very kind of him, and we are always grateful for baked goods.

We are also very confused, because while he insisted he was giving us donuts, he actually handed over a box of banana nut muffins.

Um. A rose by any other name...?

Comments

[dameruth.livejournal.com]

The matches line might have been a reference to how dry CA gets, and how likely everything is to catch on fire. Matches = bad, in that scenario, because a tossed-aside "spent" match is still a potential hazard, unlike, say, a lighter (having grown up in wildfire-prone country, that's how I read it, anyway).

The quartz crystal, though? Yeah, blame *that* on CA. *eyeroll*

[edenfalling]

Yeah, I figured it was either a wildfire issue or a militantly anti-smoking issue (California, after all, being the state that recently made it illegal to smoke in your own apartment, at least in some cases). I was afraid, if it were the latter explanation, I might set off a diatribe if I asked. :-)

[willowgreen.livejournal.com]

I haven't heard of any actual rules against offering matches with the purchase of cigarettes, and we still go to at least one restaurant that gives them away. Maybe he's just been buying his tobacco at the drugstore rather than a smoke shop? Or, what with the crystal and all, maybe he's from Santa Cruz. It wouldn't surprise me at all if they had some kind of local ordinance against free matches.

[edenfalling]

Or he's just been going to cheap places. I am informed by various customers that we are the only tobacconist in Ithaca that offers matches as a matter of course. Other places you have to ask for them, and may not get any even then. *shrug* We do charge for matches if you haven't already bought something else, because we don't get them for free ourselves, but otherwise, we give them away -- it's a way to make people feel good about the store and come back to spend more money. (And anyway, a box of 50 books of matches costs about 50 cents, so we're essentially giving away one penny. It's not a huge financial drain.)

If he comes back, I will ask him what part of California he lived in. *grin*