RHgoddess; Beginnings......

Beginnings
Ok, who's first cigar was a premium blend, top quality cigar? Put your hand down, you're lying. You know we all started out relatively the same. We were invited to have a puff on a friends cigar and instantly wanted to be in the cool crowd. You either picked up one at the corner station, drugstore, or bought one from a bars humidor. And you had no idea what you were getting either.  If you were lucky, it didn't have a plastic tip. But like the rest of us, you ripped off the cellophane, contemplated biting the end off like in the movies, borrowed a cutter and grabbed matches or a cigarette lighter and went to work. After a cough or two you thought you had it made. Funny how cigars can transform your image of yourself.
Myself? Yes, I started out in the flavoreds category.  Even a Swisher Sweet or two (don't judge me). At a bar or nightclub, I was popular.  At a cigar shop I think I repelled people.  I hadn't developed a taste for the 'straight' stuff yet, so I was happy in Moontrance land. Until I wrapped my lips around a Tatuaje that was being offered. Oh heaven help me, my first flavored cigar after that made my face scrunch up.  I never went back. And it was so much fun trying new cigars and finding my stogie groove.  Nothing is better than your favorite cigar after a long day.
Except making fun of the newbies. Yes, I know we were all there at some point, but after plugs, bugs and just bad sticks, it's dues well earned. And frankly, just funny as hell.
You can spot newbies easy.  They strut into the humidor all full of confidence and stare blankly at the pretty labels. They pick up a cigar, smell it through the cellophane, put it back, move on to a cigar right beside it, repeat. Or they bring it out of the cello, slide their nose all the way down the side, then put it back. Eew. Some even bring in the magazine with the page turned to the ratings to judge a cigar based solely on what someone else thinks of it. We've known plenty of these.  Make fun of them AFTER they leave the shop. Give them time to figure out what they really like, they'll get there. We all do.