A Real Tobacco Shop

One of the best things about moving to Lincoln is the fact that I now have a real tobacco shop to go to. Actually there are two, though one of them doesn't have a great selection of pipes. But Ted's Tobacco is a great shop with an informed proprietor. Every time I've gone there I've had a great conversation with him about pipes and tobaccos, and he has a wide variety of good tobaccos instead of just the range of bulk Lane's that I'm used to seeing in tobacco shops. But my enthusiasm for this local business has presented a dilemma I haven't had to deal with in my prior years of smoking: to support the local business or to save money on-line. Before I always could always excuse not supporting the local tobacconists because they were really discount cigarette shops. But now there is a viable tobacconist that I feel ethically obligated to support. "Ethically obligated you say, Thrasymachus? Why is that?" Because I believe that the community presence of a tobacconist is important to the continued growth of our hobby. Because refuge for the smoker is increasingly difficult to find. Because world-wide virtual communities do not have nearly the political agency that real local ones do. "But Thrasymachus, Do not the presence of on-line retailers also contribute to the hobby's growth, support small tobacco blenders and artisan pipe makers, and create a broader sense of community with a broader political power?" I suppose that's true, so I'll have to support both.