Saturday, August 6, 2016

Smoking is a Social Gateway

I grew up in the middle of nowhere upstate NY and even in that crowd I wasn't the most popular guy. Now I'm and engineering student staying the summer of 2016 in New Britain Connecticut. Tonight I'm at a bar called the Russian lady. It's probably one of the most active "club type" places in central Connecticut and even growing up surrounded by farms and country music I'm open to new experiences and I'm actually pretty into the club scene. At this bar there's a staged atmosphere as I'd like to call it. The first floor is attached like a sports bar with loud music, the second floor is a vodka bar next to another bar and a dance floor with some big club beats pumping the crowd up, and the third floor is a chill rooftop crowded with the people who need a break from the club atmosphere and whatever else they are going through. For a guy like me, the third floor is the place to be. I get to talk to people my age who aren't super into the club scene but like the music, but want to chill every once in a while. So a guy just came up to me and asked if I have a lighter. I said no and I watched him go off to another crowd, get his cigarette lit and carry on a conversation with the group that helped him light it. So the fact that this guy smokes has let him start a conversation with a group of people that he doesn't know. That's great! And good for that guy! Seriously he is lucky that he shares that hobby with a lot of other people. But what about the rest of us who don't want to give up years of our lives for social opportunity? Go ahead and comment if you are interested and have anything to say. Let me know how you go about starting conversations with people you don't know.

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