Home General Discussion

Just trying to help...

ljlljl Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 819
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???

Comments

  • Stryker808Stryker808 Everyone, Registered Users 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.
  • bigharpoonbigharpoon Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 2,909
    What went wrong is your friend has no manners. Sheeesh.
  • fla-gypsyfla-gypsy Everyone, Registered Users 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
  • gdsim1gdsim1 Everyone, Registered Users 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. :-)

  • lilwing88lilwing88 Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 2,787
    No good deed goes unpunished.......
  • NYHCx516xNYHCx516x Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 728
    lilwing88:
    No good deed goes unpunished.......
    + 1 million to that one my friend.
  • rwheelwrightrwheelwright Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 3,294
    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 fucked right in front of him!
  • xmacroxmacro Everyone, Registered Users 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/

  • SquatchitoSquatchito Everyone, Registered Users 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.
  • ug danug dan Everyone, Registered Users 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.
  • kuzi16kuzi16 Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 14,471
    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"
  • laker1963laker1963 Everyone, Registered Users 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.
  • sightunseensightunseen Everyone, Registered Users 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.
  • Amos UmwhatAmos Umwhat Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 2,523
    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
  • fla-gypsyfla-gypsy Everyone, Registered Users 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.
  • Dark RoastDark Roast Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 463
    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.
  • bandyt09bandyt09 Everyone, Registered Users Posts: 3,762
    Remember, people reserve the right to remain ignorant. You did all you could do. Booze or nor booze he showed very little class.
  • MrMokeMrMoke Everyone, Registered Users 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 ;)
  • ljlljl Everyone, Registered Users 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.
  • sightunseensightunseen Everyone, Registered Users 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.
  • ironhorseironhorse Everyone, Registered Users 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.
  • fla-gypsyfla-gypsy Everyone, Registered Users 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.
  • fla-gypsyfla-gypsy Everyone, Registered Users 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.
Sign In or Register to comment.