chat @hexbear.net the_itsb [she/her, comrade/them] @hexbear.net 2 mo. ago

lucky cigarettes and other strange rituals

anybody else engaging in this bizarre behavior I can't let go of?

it takes me a month to go through a pack these days, even giving them away, because I'm one of those lucky freaks who can just smoke one here and there and not be interested in one day to day

but I'm still flipping the front middle one over every time I open a new pack

maybe (probably!) you don't do lucky cigs – what're you doing that's a ridiculous holdover from forever ago?

20 comments

I pat my car on the dashboard above the wheel every time it starts to thank it for being willing to rouse itself from its slumber for me.
- this is one of the sweetest, cutest things I've learned in a while
- I drive stick and whenever I shift poorly I pat the dashboard and say sorry.
  
  lol I do this too!!! I genuinely feel bad about it, too
- I pat and thank the car whenever I realize we've been on the road for hours with no issues
also, why does this

I'm still flipping the front middle one over every time I open a new pack

make that cigarette lucky?

why have I never thought to ask that question
- The tradition goes back to I think soldiers in WWII. That flipped cigarette you smoke last, reminding you that you lived long enough to finish another pack, or so I have heard.
  
  well fuck, now I need to find out which kind of soldiers
  
  not trying to keep up a weird fash tradition
I knock on doors with two sets of seven knocks separated by around a second. I also only run faster than 6:30/mi if I am wearing one specific pair of sunglasses.
- That's a lotta knocks. If someone did that on my door I'd assume it's the cops
  
  If someone knocks on my door I assume they're an uninvited guest. If you're my friend you either come right in or text me that you're here and I'll come out.
- while I'm curious about this knock rhythm, I have to know more about these sunglasses
  
  These are my push sunglasses: https://goodr.com/products/cuyahoga-valley
  
  I can run quicker than that without them but I burn out faster. It's just a weird habit.
When I used to do this, there was usually some kind of manufacturer code under one of the cardboard flaps in the top of the pack, usually a letter and a number. Superstition was that it corresponded to the row and column of the lucky smoke so you'd flip that one. No idea if that's still a thing.
- oooooooohhhhhh, this is interesting lore I've never heard before! thank you, I'm gonna ask an older smoker about it the next time I'm hanging with one
I make luckies.
- hell yeah! 🥂

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