The need for change is coming. As we, the cigar world, have seen there have been a few victories. In Nevada the Governor signed a bill effective immediately permitting stand-alone bars that keep people under 21 out to serve food as well as allow smoking. Connecticut passed a 50 cent tax cap on cigars. Out here in California where some of the worst anti-smoking laws are being placed on us, the legislature beat down a bill that would have prohibited smoking in tobacco shops. It still places restrictions on work place smoking, which in all honesty I can be behind as well, but tobacconists and private clubs will be exempted. These are small, but legitimate, steps in the right direction as a free America, I hope. One of the things I think we should always do to help ourselves is have the courtesy that most cigar smokers show to all people around smokers and non-smokers. It does seem that there will always be the bad egg to overcome but if we keep putting our best foot forward we can educate the public about their misplaced fears. I personally find myself smoking at coffee shops a lot, and with that I am always looking to see if there is a place that the smokers sit. If not I take my coffee and stogie to a seat further away from the non-smokers, and even then I still let all the people out there sitting, enjoying their coffee and pastries, kmow that I will be lighting a cigar and if it brothers them to please let me know. And I have found that only a handful of times someone has asked me not to, or to just go a little downwind from them. But most Americans, I hope, are more than willing to allow me to smoke as a right, as I respect theirs to not have to smell tobacco. In a great debate that I had with a personal friend and great professional chef, Yanni Morris, we talked about our rights. It got me thinking, really thinking, that my right to smoke is no more or less valid than anyone else's right to not smell smoke from a cigar. And I think we sometimes forget this, and a little courtesy can and does still go a very long way in our world. And who knows, maybe that person will remember you someday in the future as he/she is voting or talking to a government official and mention or vote to keep America free and strong.

My guide to the local cigar sene on a budget

Well here I go with the average guy's guide to smoking in and around Sacramento. I am on a budget and new to all that goes into smoking cigars. But in my adult life I have found that there are things that men do, from having an affinity for classic cars to our love of guns, smoking cigars is fast becoming something that the politically correct (PC) world would love to see made illegal. One of the major things I feel is killing us as men in our overly PC world, is it seems as if we do not take a hold of our place in the world, but I digress.

As some of us in the world of cigars know, there is an etiquette to smoking cigars. In 1967, a man called Zino Davidoff published a now-famous essay for cigar connoisseurs titled Zino Davidoff's Guide to Cigar Etiquette. It includes a charter and code for cigar smokers everywhere, telling them how they should behave when smoking or preparing to smoke their cigars. As to his reasons for publishing what is effectively a guide to cigar etiquette, Davidoff has this to say:

“The important thing to remember is that we cigar aficionados should present ourselves as considerate and understanding individuals. Changing people’s preconceived notions and giving the growing numbers of aficionados a good name is well worth that little extra effort.”

Davidoff featured the following Dos and Don'ts for smoking cigars in public.

Do:

Warm the foot of the cigar slightly before starting to puff on it.
Remove the band carefully after lighting the cigar.
Take your time in smoking it; a puff a minute is about right.
Hold the cigar between your index finger and thumb.
Let the cigar die a dignified death. After it's smoked half way, it will go out on its own.
Dispose of the dead cigar discreetly and quickly.
Wait at least fifteen minutes between cigars; anything less indicates obsessive behavior.

Don't:

Use a penknife to cut or a lance to pierce the end of the cigar.
Touch the flame directly to the foot of the cigar: Instead, simply rotate it around the edge until it starts to burn, then puff lightly.
Ask someone else for a light (the lighting of a cigar should be a personal affair).
Light your cigar too quickly or too slowly.
Indulge in exhibitionism in lighting or any other aspect of smoking.
Relight your cigar if less than one quarter of it is leaf.
Put the cigar in your mouth to relight it. Just scrape off the ash and turn it in the flame for several seconds till it relights.
Clench it between your teeth. Likewise do not get the end of the cigar wet, chew it, or slobber on it.
Smoke too quickly.
Use a cigar holder, or worse, stick a toothpick or matchstick in the end of the cigar to help hold it in your mouth.
Dunk your cigar in port or brandy, a habit attributed to Winston Churchill.
Smoke while working.
Hold a cigar between your index and middle finger.
Smoke when you're walking.
Smoke more than half the cigar.
Put the cigar out by crushing it in an ashtray.
Chain-smoke cigars.

As you can see, there are a lot more Don'ts than Dos! However, most of Davidoff's directives are things most people already do naturally, and you will soon get used to the others as you build up more smoking experience. Practice at home, where you can relax and learn to enjoy every aspect of the ritual of cigar smoking, and only then, when you are confident, should you have a go at smoking in public. It’s not a difficult thing to do, but there are a number of things to think about the first time you do it. Keep practicing however, and they'll soon become second nature.