Another cigar lounge etiquette (what would you do in this situation)

[VeguerosMAN]

My local cigar lounge has a rule that you must purchase a cigar from the shop on the same day to smoke in the lounge. I go to the lounge every Saturday morning and am always the first customer. For the past few visits, I have noticed that one individual always brings his own cigars and lights a 60x7 and not once purchased a cigar from the lounge. Should I politely tell this individual to buy a cigar from the shop to use the lounge the next time I see him? Will I get punched in the face for addressing the issue? Will I be viewed as an asshole if I confront this individual? The employee at the lounge doesn't seem to care and that bugs me in a wrong way.  

[TheGipper]

Have you considered the possibility that you know absolutely nothing about who that guy is and what his situation is?

For all you know, that's the shop owner.  Or a guy who did something of great value for the shop owner in the past. Or who knows what else...

Just relax, man.

[VeguerosMAN]

4 minutes ago, TheGipper said:

Have you considered the possibility that you know absolutely nothing about who that guy is and what his situation is?

For all you know, that's the shop owner.  Or a guy who did something of great value for the shop owner in the past. Or who knows what else...

Just relax, man.

That's not the shop owner for sure. I know the shop owner. 

[EasternPromises]

As with most situations, I would say it’s useful to understand the situation first before jumping to conclusions. From what i understand, most lounges are willing to take a blind eye to you smoking your own cigars so long as you buy at least one cigar from the shop. Perhaps this guy is smoking this 60x7 monster as his first cigar of the day and then subsequently buying another stick from the store? Alternatively, maybe the guy is at the lounge Mon-Fri and is purchasing sticks from the store during the week and so he gets a mulligan on Saturdays to smoke whatever he likes. 

In terms of how you could approach this situation, perhaps you could start chatting to the guy and ask him what he’s smoking. When he responds, you could say something like “i didn’t know the shop stocks that line”. If he admits he didn’t get it from the shop, you could perhaps (innocently) say “oh i thought you had to buy a stick from the shop before you could smoke at the lounge?”. Depending on how he responds, that would probably guide you on whether you want to pursue this issue further. 

[VeguerosMAN]

6 minutes ago, EasternPromises said:

As with most situations, I would say it’s useful to understand the situation first before jumping to conclusions. From what i understand, most lounges are willing to take a blind eye to you smoking your own cigars so long as you buy at least one cigar from the shop. Perhaps this guy is smoking this 60x7 monster as his first cigar of the day and then subsequently buying another stick from the store? Alternatively, maybe the guy is at the lounge Mon-Fri and is purchasing sticks from the store during the week and so he gets a mulligan on Saturdays to smoke whatever he likes. 

In terms of how you could approach this situation, perhaps you could start chatting to the guy and ask him what he’s smoking. When he responds, you could say something like “i didn’t know the shop stocks that line”. If he admits he didn’t get it from the shop, you could perhaps (innocently) say “oh i thought you had to buy a stick from the shop before you could smoke at the lounge?”. Depending on how he responds, that would probably guide you on whether you want to pursue this issue further. 

You could smoke your own cigars as long as you buy one at the shop. I am always the first one in the shop so I know for a fact he's not buying any. He would wander around the shop a little and it looks like he's going to buy something, but he just sits and takes out a cigar from his travel humidor. He said he only comes on weekends but I hadn't seen him before until 4 weeks ago. 

[JohnS]

The best thing to do is to approach the gentleman and say, "Hello, my name is V-Man" and then see where the conversation leads. You'll probably find a quite plausible explanation, which this gentleman will probably tell you himself.

Don't take @Ford2112's advice. He'll tell you to start the initial conversation by saying, "Hello, my name is Kirby!"

[VeguerosMAN]

7 minutes ago, JohnS said:

The best thing to do is to approach the gentleman and say, "Hello, my name is V-Man" and then see where the conversation leads. You'll probably find a quite plausible explanation, which this gentleman will probably tell you himself.

Don't take @Ford2112's advice. He'll tell you to start the initial conversation by saying, "Hello, my name is Kirby!"

I will ask him this Saturday if he shows up.  I have a feeling he's purposely being cheap. 

13 minutes ago, EasternPromises said:

As with most situations, I would say it’s useful to understand the situation first before jumping to conclusions. From what i understand, most lounges are willing to take a blind eye to you smoking your own cigars so long as you buy at least one cigar from the shop. Perhaps this guy is smoking this 60x7 monster as his first cigar of the day and then subsequently buying another stick from the store? Alternatively, maybe the guy is at the lounge Mon-Fri and is purchasing sticks from the store during the week and so he gets a mulligan on Saturdays to smoke whatever he likes. 

In terms of how you could approach this situation, perhaps you could start chatting to the guy and ask him what he’s smoking. When he responds, you could say something like “i didn’t know the shop stocks that line”. If he admits he didn’t get it from the shop, you could perhaps (innocently) say “oh i thought you had to buy a stick from the shop before you could smoke at the lounge?”. Depending on how he responds, that would probably guide you on whether you want to pursue this issue further. 

The shop has a rule that you must purchase the cigar on the same day that you are using the lounge.  So everyone goes straight to the walking humidor and gets a cigar, except for this individual.

[JY0]

Unless you own the place, or work there, it's really nunya bidness 😇

[VeguerosMAN]

8 minutes ago, JY0 said:

Unless you own the place, or work there, it's really nunya bidness 😇

To me it's like going to a restaurant and bringing your own food. 

[Ford2112]

WWKD (what would Kirby do?)

[Li Bai]

I would mind my own business unless this gentleman was smoking a Dom Perignon, then I would:

- become friends with him and find out if his humidor is still packed with those

- find out where he lives in case things don't go as planned

- become godfather of his offspring or the son he never had, where appropriate

- tell him discretely and regularly (not too often, it could ruin everything) how Cuban Davidoffs are overrated and far past their prime

- have him give it to me as we're family now after all (and he can't enjoy those old wasted cigars anymore since i ruined it for him)

- get back to my life and enjoy !!

Of course this would take time and dedication, it's not for everyone.

[Deeg]

Alternatively, while I don’t espouse narcing on people as a rule, you could casually approach the owner (who you say you know), and say something like “what’s the deal with that guy who comes in every Saturday and smokes those telephone poles he brings with ‘im? Does he ever buy anything?” If there is an explanation as posited above, that’s a painless way to find out.

I would be very hesitant to approach the guy directly unless I was prepared for an unpleasant confrontation. 

 

[ShaazK]

Maybe he bought the box from there so gets to bring 'em in and smoke whenever he pleases.


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[Chibearsv]

Would you make someone's day a better one if you called this person out?  Would you make someone's day worse?  Which would you want to accomplish?  Sounds to me like the guy isn't doing a thing that's not already being accepted by the business as ok, no matter the reason. My opinion, if we had whistleblowers for every rule infraction that's witnessed, we'd all need ear protection. Live and let live.

[Hemclas]

Why is it your concern? Leave it to the cigar store to address. I get it that bugs you, it would bug me too until I took a moment to relax and realize it's none of my business. I have found life is much more enjoyable when I stop getting worked up about all the stuff society wants me to fret over.

There's a local place near me that has a sign when you walk in, no outside cigars. It wasn't long before I noticed people bringing in their own cigars. It didn't bother me when I saw this because I was smoking a cigar, and if there's ever a time to be relaxed it's when I'm smoking a cigar. I figured they must know the owner or something. Turns out if you become a paid member you can bring in your own cigars.  

 

[BrightonCorgi]

Does the lounge promote a cutting fee for non-store bought cigars? I would ask an employee about the lounge rules for your own clarity and if they are enforced uniformly.

Perhaps the offending smoker could be someone of interest? Befriend and see what the deal is.

[VeguerosMAN]

16 hours ago, Ford2112 said:

WWKD (what would Kirby do?)

Kirby would have a gentleman conversation with the rule breaker and would preach him how fine and prestigious the cigar lounge is and that he needs to buy a cigar to support the lounge. That's my guess.

8 hours ago, BrightonCorgi said:

Does the lounge promote a cutting fee for non-store bought cigars?  I would ask an employee about the lounge rules for your own clarity and if they are enforced uniformly.

Perhaps the offending smoker could be someone of interest?  Befriend and see what the deal is.

You can bring your own cigars to the lounge to smoke. It's a cigar shop/lounge. The rule is that you need to buy a cigar from the shop on the same day that you are using the lounge to smoke. So he could basically buy a 2 dollar cigar from the shop and smoke his 60 x 7 cigars all day if he wants as long as he buys one cigar from the shop. 

[BrightonCorgi]

8 hours ago, VeguerosMAN said:

  You can bring your own cigars to the lounge to smoke. It's a cigar shop/lounge.   The rule is that you need to buy a cigar from the shop on the same day that you are using the lounge to smoke. So he could basically buy a 2 dollar cigar from the shop and smoke his 60 x 7 cigars all day if he wants as long as he buys one cigar from the shop. 

I use to do something similar when there was a nice cigar lounge in Boston's Back Bay. I'd buy the cheapest cigar they have and give it to a homeless person that fancied a cigar to smoke on the way out.

[SCgarman]

I was sitting in the Manassas OVTC enjoying a cigar in a lounge chair. There were a few other guys sitting there also smoking. One of the guys significant other (woman) came into the lounge from the Chili's restaurant right next door. This woman brought her dinner from Chili's, and thought she would eat it amongst a bunch of men smoking cigars. She then proceeded to verbally "complain" about the smell of smoke wafting in the air! Needless to say, I was taken aback by her foolish and ignorant posture. What a total idiot. Dealing with idiots like this person is what really makes me just stay home in my garage and enjoy my cigars in private. I would "usually" go into their walk in humidor and pick out a cigar to buy, just to support the business. I would even offer a Cuban to the employee working behind the counter. Then I would sit in a chair, pick a Cuban out of my cigar case and fire up. You don't need to buy a $30 dollar cigar to patronize the lounge. Just buy something reasonable.

[Edicion]

He might be a regular that buys quite a lot of boxes and can do as he pleases. 

[VeguerosMAN]

8 hours ago, SCgarman said:

I was sitting in the Manassas OVTC enjoying a cigar in a lounge chair. There were a few other guys sitting there also smoking. One of the guys significant other (woman) came into the lounge from the Chili's restaurant right next door. This woman brought her dinner from Chili's, and thought she would eat it amongst a bunch of men smoking cigars. She then proceeded to verbally "complain" about the smell of smoke wafting in the air! Needless to say, I was taken aback by her foolish and ignorant posture. What a total idiot. Dealing with idiots like this person is what really makes me just stay home in my garage and enjoy my cigars in private. I would "usually" go into their walk in humidor and pick out a cigar to buy, just to support the business. I would even offer a Cuban to the employee working behind the counter. Then I would sit in a chair, pick a Cuban out of my cigar case and fire up. You don't need to buy a $30 dollar cigar to patronize the lounge. Just buy something reasonable.

The cigar lounge I am referring to is the Arlington OVTC just outside of DC. I am an avid morning smoker so I am always the first one in the lounge so I don't deal with nonsense like what you mentioned. I would always get two cigars ( mostly Padron anni and something new I haven't tried to smoke at home).

8 hours ago, Edicion said:

He might be a regular that buys quite a lot of boxes and can do as he pleases. 

Doubt it. I will get to the bottom of it this Saturday once he shows up. Might be a bad idea but oh well.

[SCgarman]

1 minute ago, VeguerosMAN said:

Doubt it.  I will get to the bottom of it this Saturday once he shows up.  Might be a bad idea but oh well.

I have even seen people come into OVTC just so they can light up a cigarette instead of stand outside on the side walk. Another complete turn off. Even though there is a ceiling ventilation system, I don't feel cigarette smokers should be amongst us cigar enthusiasts, and I hate the smell of cigarettes with a passion. This is only my opinion, and others may certainly differ. But a cigarette guy is most likely not going to purchase a Padron 1964 out of the walk-in!

[VeguerosMAN]

8 hours ago, SCgarman said:

I have even seen people come into OVTC just so they can light up a cigarette instead of stand outside on the side walk. Another complete turn off. Even though there is a ceiling ventilation system, I don't feel cigarette smokers should be amongst us cigar enthusiasts, and I hate the smell of cigarettes with a passion. This is only my opinion, and others may certainly differ. But a cigarette guy is most likely not going to purchase a Padron 1964 out of the walk-in!

I made a topic regarding cig smoking in cigar lounges in the forum. Cigs need to be banned in lounges!! But luckily I am usually the only one smoking in the lounge (except for the rule breaker for the past 4 weeks) so I don't deal with BS in crowded lounges. Have you checked out the Alexandria old town OVTC location? The second floor lounge is nice...

[SCgarman]

8 hours ago, VeguerosMAN said:

I made a topic regarding cig smoking in cigar lounges in the forum. Cigs need to be banned in lounges!! But luckily I am usually the only one smoking in the lounge ( except for the rule breaker for the past 4 weeks) so I don't deal with BS in crowded lounges. Have you checked out the Alexandria old town OVTC location? The second floor lounge is nice...

No, I moved to Myrtle Beach in summer 2021. No longer live in Virginia. We had become tired of the D.C. area "rat race". My wife works for a DC area government contractor, but her job is mostly virtual and she works at home. She does need to occasionally travel up to Reston, VA for meetings. 

[BrightonCorgi]

50 minutes ago, SCgarman said:

No, I moved to Myrtle Beach in summer 2021. No longer live in Virginia. We had become tired of the D.C. area "rat race". My wife works for a DC area government contractor, but her job is mostly virtual and she works at home. She does need to occasionally travel up to Reston, VA for meetings. 

I use to live in Reston as a young child.  Concorde would fly over my house every day on its way to Dulles