I Feel So Honored...

[racemyghost]

So my grandparents came over today and when i was a kid (4 - 5 yrs of age), i remember he would smoke shisha around me. As some of you know, im Armenian and smoking hookah is a part of our culture. He had a Iranian hookah and Nahkla double apple from what i remember. He hasnt smoked in 8+ years and i felt like it was my duty to share my talent and skills with him. So i busted out my AF hookah (which he was so amazed by from its beauty) and I mixed AF pineapple and AF banana and sat down with him for a smoke. He LOVED it. He started calling me a pro and what not. lol

It was such a honor for me. Here is a man that raised our family and a man i love dearly. We are like best friends. I also filmed a minute of our session just for something for me to treasure and look back on years from now. It was a great night.

I asked him what happened to the hookah (hoping he would give to me and have something to cherish) but he told me the vase had broke and they got rid of the stem years ago.

Just thought i would share with you folks. Anyone one of you guys have similar stories? Edited January 28, 2008 by racemyghost

[mushrat]

all i can say is Very cool. No one else in my family smokes hookah.

[JillyIsJustKidding]

all i can say is Very cool. No one else in my family smokes hookah.

Same here. I wish hookah was in the Filipino culture, but it isn't lol. They kinda look down to smoking which kinda sux. Edited January 29, 2008 by JillyIsJustKidding

[ZenSilk]

My culture only drinks and pillages villages.

[Geiseric]

That is so fucking awesome, man. I smoke with my dad a lot, and its pretty cool, but it would be so awesome to smoke with an elder, like my Priest (a personal fantasy, what can I say, I'm a weird guy). I go to a Greek church, so a lot of us smoke... but with the priest... that would be a whole new level of kick ass-ery.

[gr!m]

That's awesome. I love the culture that surrounds Hookah smoking, it's historic roots and tradition practices are very interesting. I also love how Hookah has a very specific etiquette. I would some day like to smoke with my father but neither of my parents approve of smoking anything.

[hookah hippie]

That's awesome man smoking with elders and having them give you praise must have been great

[gaia.plateau]

Priest (a personal fantasy, what can I say, I'm a weird guy).

Someone, please put this in your signature.

[Geiseric]

[racemyghost]

Priest (a personal fantasy, what can I say, I'm a weird guy).

Someone, please put this in your signature.

lol.

It did feel good having him give me a thumbs up. We started talking about all sorts of things. Things like how they would smoke back home and how things have changed so much in the hookah industry. He kept trying to tell me how to put the coals on and how i should press down on the foil....lol. In my head im thinking "what a noob" but i would never lol

[goose_0007]

Yo man thats awesome. Me and my brother smoke alot but all my elders are dead or dying to say the least. Maybe ill get my mom to do it once, I mean come one she grew up in the 70's so i know shes down to try anything.

[thejoshman]

dude my parents dont like me smoking even!

[Voski]

No one in my family smokes hookah =/. They came from Iran and they used to smoke hashish out of them so no one uses them here. (can I use that word?)

[JillyIsJustKidding]

No one in my family smokes hookah =/. They came from Iran and they used to smoke hashish out of them so no one uses them here. (can I use that word?)

Edit your post and change it to "illegal substances" because you might be banned by the mods :\

[The Devils Playground]

Dude thats just cool. I am italian decent and well robbing people and laundering money I am afreaid may be their past time.

But seriously Thats just a cool story. You are well deserved to be honored and proud to tell that story.

[Geiseric]

"Dude thats just cool. I am italian decent and well robbing people and laundering money I am afreaid may be their past time.

But seriously Thats just a cool story. You are well deserved to be honored and proud to tell that story."


The Italian mafia myth is one of the most ridiculous tales told in a America. If anyone actually thinks Godfather style crime syndicates exist, they need a reality check, "organized crime" as it exists in America is basically a grown up version of adolescent gangs, constantly shifting, chaotic, and certainly less stratified, family based, and RACIAL. The Italian myth is a result of racialism and xenophobia in early immigration. You can see the same thing said about any cultural minority that comes into a new area. Here in Duluth, the big thing was the "Greek Mafia" (ridiculous, I know) which still is spoken of today. It originated when in the early 1900s there was a huge influx of Greeks coming into the community, speaking another language and having extremely strange eastern customs and mannerisms, who had a tendancy to keep together because they had so little in common with the rest of the American culture.

As someone who comes consistently into contact with the big Greek families in Duluth, the ones that own a large chunk of the businesses, I can assure you there is not, and never was, a Greek Mafia here.

Another thing that would lead to the myth is the poverty associated with recent immigrants would often lead them to a life of criminal activity, as they were unable to procure other methods of gaining money, and this being observed by a xenophobic American public was contributed to a conspiracy of the race as a whole in a some kind of massive organization, when in reality it was criminal behavior as classically understood in any case, not having anything to do with organization or race.

I know you are joking around, but, hell, I never pass up a chance to clear up foolish mythology based on racism and ignorance when I can Plus I hope it helps you think of your people in a better light. If you want to think about something negative about Italians, focus on your Roman history. Why we seem to have a form of hero-worship for that violent and imperial culture I will never understand....

The reason this came to mind is the subject has actually been under pretty heavy debate these last few months due to its recent popularity due to the romanticism that Hollywood has given to the mythology in the last few years. Edited January 28, 2008 by Geiseric

[Bulldog_916]

Awesome story man, my mom likes to take a few hits with me while I'm smoking. Now they wanna go halves in on a new hookah. I told them I'd train them in this style first with my baby then they can get their own. They want to get off the cigarettes, and while hookah MAY or MAY NOT be better health-wise, they said that it's certainly nicer than cigarettes. So we shall see...

[racemyghost]

Awesome story man, my mom likes to take a few hits with me while I'm smoking. Now they wanna go halves in on a new hookah. I told them I'd train them in this style first with my baby then they can get their own. They want to get off the cigarettes, and while hookah MAY or MAY NOT be better health-wise, they said that it's certainly nicer than cigarettes. So we shall see...

Ive been trying to convince my mom to try it but she just wont budge! lol

She's cool about it though. Sometimes when she's at the grocery store, I call her up to pick me up a apple, pineapple, melon, or watermelon to use as my hookah head and she does. Its just....awesome. She says it smells good and i keep telling her it tastes even better. haha

[zeppyrkr]

my parents = crazy, i'll never get to experience anything like that ...

[Lysolz]

Us whiteys can't share stories as awesome as this.

[manic007]

My story isn't neary as interesting. My parents had a small brass hookah which they kept as a display piece, I dont think they ever used it (or would know how too). I think they just brought it cause it looked pretty, or maybe they went to some country before I was born and brought it as a souvenir or something. Anyway when I was a toddler my parents used to let me play around with it, I guess they figured that since it was brass I couldn't break it, unfortunately they were wrong . Sometimes I wish we still had that hookah, I wonder if it ever worked?

[thecoalition]

the closest i have been able to get to legend smoking is when i brought my hookah on a road trip to my girlfriends aunts wedding. During the reception i stepped outside set it up and i got:
1. Girlfriends mom (who is now obsessed and makes me bring the hookah whenever i visit or go to one of the family events)
2. Girlfriends aunt
3. Aunt's husband
4. Girlfriends Grandma
5. Grandmas older sister who was 86 or so at the time (we also had her doing vodka shots with us at the wedding)
6. 2 uncles, 1 aunt to be
still working on getting grandpa to smoke with us. hes a corrections officer so he was like...i know whats in there! he now knows what we smoke but hes apprehensive. I think since he told me that im just like my gfs dad ( who he thinks is the best person ever) his hookah smoking will come around.

[Codename067]

I don't know if I am going to get a chance to do what you did because my grandparents are long gone, and everyone in the family smokes. So good for you man. I am too well known for my crazy bowls though, definitely surpassed my father and brother in law! [and they have been doing this for too long].

PS: Regarding the comment about Armenians smoking as they grow up, did you mean Persian? Because Armenians are not too well known for Hookahs, it's usually Arabs and Persians. None of my Armenian friends [nor their family] had Hookahs as they grew up. Maybe not many families grow up with it?

But either way the more the better =]

[Note: Try a pear head, you wont be disappointed]

And Geiseric, I hear you. Good write up.

[racemyghost]

Well my parents and grandparents are Armenian but have a small amount of Persian in them. But i have plenty of Armenian friends with hookah in their blood.

My bowls are crazy too. When it would be my grandpa's turn, i would have to leave only 1 coal on for him to be able to handle it. Then when my turn, throw all of em back on. (talk about heat managment....lol)

[Codename067]

I see. Thats cool.

And yeah, i hear you about the whole coal thing. My brother in law came over once day while i was smoking my KM, he took the hose and started smoking, 10 mins in, he started getting light headed, lol. And he can seriously smoke too. He took some charcoals off so he can handle it. as soon as he was gone, i put back w/e charcoals were on in the first place.