ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, September 8, 1996 TAG: 9609100014
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: 3 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: MARGIE FISHER
SOURCE: MARGIE FISHER EDITORIAL WRITER
THE STREETS of Roanoke and every other city and town are littered with them: society's outcasts - the cigarette smokers.
They hover in doorways of office buildings and retail stores, enduring drenching rain, snow and the scorching noonday sun. Passersby sneer at them. Winos, prostitutes and dope peddlers, feeling morally superior, turn their eyes from them in utter disgust.
As a member of the cigarette-smoking minority in this country, I understand the contempt displayed by nonsmokers toward an unpopular habit.
But what I don't understand is how the smoking of cigars has suddenly taken on an aura of glamour and acceptability, and is smiled upon by many of the same politically correct scolds who are ready to banish cigarette smokers to a leper colony.
The proprietors of upscale retail stores, who would call the fumigators if a customer dared light a cigarette on the premises, are ga-ga with excitement showing off their racks of tres chic, designer-label smoking jackets and smoking ensembles for men and women. Apparently, special smoking attire with three-figure price tags is the hottest fashion fad since the leisure suit.
Many of the finest restaurants have converted their cocktail lounges to cigar bars. Some of these same restaurants still show cigarette smokers to a table where the piano music is drowned out by the sound of flushing toilets inside the men's room, and requests for an ashtray are received with the same cordiality as a flashed note saying ``I have a gun. This is a stickup.''
After-dinner ``smokers'' for cigar aficionados are featured entertainment at lawyers' and bankers' conferences at some of the nation's plushest hotels. And at both the Republicans' and Democrats' recent national conventions - celebrations of family values, with television coverage showing more mommies with babies in arms than could be seen in a month on local hospitals' maternity wards - it was reported that $25 cigars were among convention-goers' favorite souvenirs.
Excuse me - but am I the only person who didn't get the fax saying that cigars no longer stink?
In a world where a slight hint of second-hand cigarette smoke causes the persnickety to whip out a can of Lysol disinfectant spray and douse everything in sight, how is it that a truly noxious stogie is now odoriferously OK?
I have been trying to educate myself concerning this cultural trend. A recent issue of The New Yorker carried a special advertising section suggesting various explanations:
``Sharing an affinity for the good life ... as in the woodsy aroma of a handmade cigar ... the curve of a seasoned Stetson ... the cut of a well-tailored suit. This is an exclusive fraternity, a brotherhood that extends beyond family ties. A rare breed of men in possession of style, substance, and swagger. Kindred spirits all ... ''
Which I took to mean it has something to do with male bonding, and therefore is as wholesome as a father-son banquet to celebrate a successful Little League season.
``Chopin liked his women young, beautiful and demure. Sand was older, rebellious and given to wearing men's clothing. Upon meeting, Sand ignored Chopin's performance, choosing to spend the evening smoking cigars and philosophizing madly among his guests. Chopin detested Sand. Sand pitied Chopin. A love affair was begun.''
Ahh - sex appeal. Now we're getting down to it. What could be more come-hither than the stench of a good cigar?
Then there's also identifying with celebrities. Bill Clinton is said to enjoy an occasional one, but probably doesn't inhale. A panache has also been bestowed on the stogie by Jack Nicholson, Whoopi Goldberg, Dave Letterman, Bill Cosby, Demi Moore (presumably dressed for cigar-smoking occasions), and, of course, that all-time-great sex symbol, Rush Limbaugh.
In my quest for education, I came across dozens of bamboozling phrases about an alleged link of desirable social attributes to cigar smoking: It creates a milieu, it seems, for ``independent thinkers.'' It goes hand in hand with fine food, fine drink and scintillating conversation in the polite company of first-class citizens. It captures the bouquet of wealth and power.
Very well. The old paradigm associating cigars with mob bosses, scheming politicians, unethical Wall Street money-grubbers and Third World revolutionaries is as passe as the silver-screen imagery Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall once gave cigarette smoking. I accept that. But advertising razzle-dazzle to the contrary, cigars still stink. They can cause cancer, too, in case some have forgotten.
Passing strange: A society that looks down its nose at cigarette smoking, seems ready to outlaw it as a heinous crime, regards cigar smoking as a winsome vogue? Try as I may, I just don't get it.
LENGTH: Medium: 85 linesby CNB