A surprising conversation...

[fajrdrako]

For twenty years or more there has been a smoke shop called Tony's at the corner near where I work, underneath the DND offices. The man who runs it has always seems to me fairly quiet and dour, especially compared to his friendly, lively wife.

Today he seemed more cheerful and talkative. I was buying a Paris Match, on which I couldn't find the Canadian price - he showed me where it was and we mutually shook our heads at the almost-illegible tiny print. Then he saw I had a book on the Crusades in my bag, and asked about it. "You know anything about that?" he asked, and I said I studied it as a post-graduate. He said, "It was a fascinating time."

I wonder if he came from the middle east. I never asked, but would have guessed he was Lebanese.

Then another woman came into the store, and said to him, "Didn't you once have a store on Lola Avenue?" "Yes," he said, and laughed. "That was more than twenty years ago! You were this high! I remember you now."

Everyone has different sides to them.

Comments

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I thought you were only allowed to be dour if you were Scottish

Hmm, good point! Maybe it's my ancient Scottish genes peeping out to make me describe a Lebanese man as dour when he is really... um... sober? Solemn? Glum?

Yes, a smoke shop is the same as a tobacconist. Nowadays they don't seem to have much in the way of smoking materials - though I'm sure they do have them - but they have snacks and soft drinks and lots of magazines.

I have no idea what a cigarette costs - I've never bought one, not being a smoker. I know they are heavily taxed, so the cost is high. And yes, smoking is generally prohibited in all public buildings, so you see clusters of people smoking in doorways on their break.