my preferred way of obtaining cigarettes (sorry) in this century of the UK does have a variation feel to it. since purchasing them from conventional stores has become ludicrously expensive to the point of being obscene i am left with the choice of what's been imported in a way that is (ahem) somewhat independent from the usual channels, look you see. this is not something which should necessarily be viewed as a bad thing, at least when one has cleared that ever present "smoking is bad" aspect.
recently it was so that i went to stock up on cigarettes at a far more modest, and somewhat agreeable, price than the regular shops are obliged to sell them at. i am sure i will have made this point before, but it is very much a bizarre situation where people can smuggle in perfectly legal items, sell them for way south of half of what the standard price is here and, presumably, still make a significant profit to make the venture worthwhile. more on that in a bit (of you read on), but for now, alas they didn't have quite so many of my preference, Marlboro (red or gold) available, so i went with a familiar alternative.
it has been quite some time since i had smoked some Camel cigarettes. was rather nice to see them again as it happens. yes, odd to get "nostalgic" or something about a type of cigarette, but if not here we are then here i am. how long since i last had these? well, it will have been in my time in South Africa. not by choice from the time that Marlboro hit the SA market, but probably 20 (!) or so years ago, then, at a guess. if such things matter.
normally i would have had "regular" Camel, venturing only into the world of "lights" as they were called then as and when the "normal" ones were unavailable. can't remember when it was but at some stage they made cigarette people calling brands "light" as apparently it gave off the suggestion that they were in some way healthier. us smokers do get treated like idiots. anyway, at that time i think they just elected to differentiate with colours, so things like blue (or gold) became the "light" cigarette. most stick with red to define the strongest version. if there is a point here, it's that these are, or were, Camel Blue, which would be "lights". so, perhaps, not that much of a flashback for me.
behold, or look at, the attention to detail they went and gone done on the cigarette filters. nice touch, that. presumably done more for making it more difficult to produce counterfeit ones than any major branding initiative, but still. no, i am not sure why they make a big fuss or big deal about the company making them being around since 1913. i can assure you that the age of the business making the cigarettes is not a matter i take into consideration when purchasing. yes, that renaissance painting style picture for the warning, telling you that you will die if you smoke (unlike all them immortal non smokers out there), is a lovely touch.
we, as a people, have not heard the term "fake news" for a while. perhaps with the expected, or inevitable, return of a former incumbent to the top (ish) job in America soon there will be a revival of the term. i can remember how people of any persuasion politically banded around the phrase to dismiss any story they happened to disagree with. for a real "fake news" story example, cigarettes in the UK. it is so that our infrequently trusted government insists that the obscene tax placed on cigarettes is in some way "working" as less (fewer) people are smoking. no, not quite. they make that assumption on the huge fall in recorded sales. all that they have successfully done with the increases is take money away from themselves and sent more people to buy them from less than conventional distributors. stats are great, you can manipulate and use them to tell anything you like, irrespective of the truth.
how did i get on with these Camel Blue? very well, thanks. whilst i would not ever give up Marlboro as a primary passion, as it happens i did ask if they had any more of these on a recent restock trip, alas, or if you will sadly, no they did not have any more. oh well, perhaps on a future purchase i shall get some more, unless i do something like quit. rather unlikely, but still.
yes, you are probably right, i likely should not be "celebrating" cigarettes. they are bad for you, and will likely be the death of me. except of course it will be vaguely amusing if my end is attributed to something that has nothing to do with then. but, you know, they (cigarettes) do remain a legal thing. odd that over the years people have "reported" my posts of Bullseye as they don't like the content, but leave ones like this well alone. go figure, and no that is neither a request nor a challenge.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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