Some Info I Want To Share

[Steemax]

This is some info I want to share about hookahs in Syria and middle east to be more general, rules that apply to hookah lounges.

If you go to one:

It is desrespectful to:

the hookah to put it anywhere but the ground.

take pictures of people smoking it.

to hold the handle of the hose from anywhere but the end (just let it hang in your mouth)

to hold the hose with your left hand (must be with right).

These are the rules of a more cultural smoke session in the middle east.

[gaia.plateau]

It is desrespectful to:

to hold the handle of the hose from anywhere but the end (just let it hang in your mouth)

to hold the hose with your left hand (must be with right).

Sounds paradoxially antithetical to the mellow fundamentals of hookah

I guess they wouldn't like the nammor/razan hose there... my girlfriend can barely hold that thing with one hand, let alone by her mouth.

[louman3333]

i approve of them except hookahs being on grounds i mean its cool if they arn't but sometimes it just doesn't work out
and also i like switching hands while i smoke.

[Canon]

i approve of them except hookahs being on grounds i mean its cool if they arn't but sometimes it just doesn't work out
and also i like switching hands while i smoke.

if you smoke somewhere where people are strict by that it would be rude to not follow tradition

[SimplexCoda]

Sure am glad I smoke from my house. Its not difficult stuff but I like to hold the handle.

[John Stuart Mill]

To hell with tradition! As the real John Stuart Mill said, “The despotism of custom is everywhere the standing hindrance to human advancement.” Social conventions that don’t benefit our development should be abandoned.

Edited March 12, 2008 by John Stuart Mill

[gaia.plateau]

Social conventions that don't benefit our development should be abandoned.

And who gets to decide this?

[MechAnt]

That sounds completely different from what I've ever known about hookah smoking.

The pipe must be kept at a level lower than your seating surface because it is "lower" than you. It's your servant per se.

Held in right hand because left hand is considered dirty cause it is sometimes used to clean the anus.


Those are only some of the etiquette I've learned.

[John Stuart Mill]

Well, I would say the people using human reason. I think the history shows democratization has greatly reduced useless customs. In any case, Should we defer to the past and their infinite knowledge, like a good conservative? Surly, they made no error in the slow process of forming cultural tradition. Why are previous modes valid? That is the question you must answer.



You should know John Stuart Mill's answer. He believed that through reason we can accept a morality that benefits all. The maximization of possible pleasure is the only desirable end (utilitarianism). I realize serious problems exist with utilitarianism, but that is true for any moral belief. Pleasure is only a general guideline, as one cannot measure it, but it represents a great step from superstitions and blind dogmatism. I'm an emotivist, meaning that I believe moral statements lack truth-value. There is no metaphysical good or evil that transcends mankind. We can only discuss morality as personal preferences. However, utilitarianism offers humanity the most logical code of conduct. If you are an objectivist like Ayn Rand your morality is based on individual egoism. Oddly enough, Chernyshevsky used what he termed rational egoism to support utilitarianism. If we are rational we realize the best possible world would be created through utilitarian ideals. Your individual chance at happiness would be far greater. Edited March 13, 2008 by John Stuart Mill

[John Stuart Mill]

We should ask ourselves, “Who does this custom help?” If it doesn’t aid the majority why espouse it.

[Canon]

We should ask ourselves, "Who does this custom help?" If it doesn't aid the majority why espouse it.

every culture has customs. maybe you should ask "if i do it this way, will it hurt me?" it doesnt hurt to try something new and meanwhile not offend other people.

[John Stuart Mill]

I don't have a problem with people performing useless actions, so long as they are harmless. It is those who take umbrage that I disagree with. I would contend that there isn't a reason to take offence, owing to the fact that the custom benefits no one. Edited March 12, 2008 by John Stuart Mill

[TheScotsman]

We should ask ourselves, "Who does this custom help?" If it doesn't aid the majority why espouse it.

every culture has customs. maybe you should ask "if i do it this way, will it hurt me?" it doesnt hurt to try something new and meanwhile not offend other people.

I think I am going to have to go with Canon on this. Tradition is sometimes useless, others silly, but it doesn't do any harm to try to follow when one may find themselves in such circumstances. It's just good manners, but if you really want to be known as just another American barbarian-pig go ahead and do whatever you want. When you can't understand the language, you can rest assured, it is you they are talking about.

When in Rome........

[John Stuart Mill]

We should ask ourselves, "Who does this custom help?" If it doesn't aid the majority why espouse it.

every culture has customs. maybe you should ask "if i do it this way, will it hurt me?" it doesnt hurt to try something new and meanwhile not offend other people.

I think I am going to have to go with Canon on this. Tradition is sometimes useless, others silly, but it doesn't do any harm to try to follow when one may find themselves in such circumstances. It's just good manners, but if you really want to be known as just another American barbarian-pig go ahead and do whatever you want. When you can't understand the language, you can rest assured, it is you they are talking about.

When in Rome........

I don't have a problem with people performing useless actions, so long as they are harmless. It is those who take umbrage that I disagree with. I would contend that there isn't a reason to take offence, owing to the fact that the custom benefits no one. This reply i gave to cannon fits your critique as well.

[Voski]

I have also heard that you need to point the end of the hose towards you when you pass it and the person receiving it is supposed to tap your hand before you can give it to them.

Customs around my parts are puff puff pass

[Brownman18]

customs when i go to any hookah bar are i will smoke how i please, only once has that been an issue and well that hookah bar was going downhill after they made smart ass comments about customs.



Hookah was not invented in the middle east, it was perfected their, well either way its a senseless argument.


You pay you do what you please with it as long as your not breaking any laws.

[*HOT&SMOKING*]

i approve of them except hookahs being on grounds i mean its cool if they arn't but sometimes it just doesn't work out
and also i like switching hands while i smoke.

if you smoke somewhere where people are strict by that it would be rude to not follow tradition

I agree to that because I think it is only right to follow etiquete and custom IF you are smoking by someone els who has such etiquete and who might think rude of you if you don't follow.

Its like you having a rule of no nht in your hookah and someone comes and stuffs it in there.

1 it is wrong to some people, in the sense that it is seen by alot of people as a device where NHT is NOT to be smoked out of, even if it started of with NHT being smoked in it ages ago.
2 it is unethical because it is no doubt against your rules

so essentially you would not like it if someone broke your "etiquette" , don't do it to them.

peace

-H&S Edited March 31, 2008 by *HOT&SMOKING*

[mushrat]

The biggest problem with the OP's announcement is that I have smoked with traditional smokers from the middle east and even THEY don't follow the rules as I have been taught them. You forgot "don't light a cigarette on the coals" "don't show the soles of your feet when sitting" and "pass the hose with the end facing toward you, not the person you are passing it to"

I have seen people directly from The middle east smokign in my lounge braking every rules we have both mentioned. And I think the picture one has to be fairly modern, the portable camera hasn't been around that long and I know there are a LOT of shots from the late 1800's of people smoking hookah.

Just me .02 on it all. Customes are nice, but even the people who's customs they are frequently pay them no mind.

[mushrat]

i approve of them except hookahs being on grounds i mean its cool if they arn't but sometimes it just doesn't work out
and also i like switching hands while i smoke.

if you smoke somewhere where people are strict by that it would be rude to not follow tradition

I agree to that because I think it is only right to follow etiquete and custom IF you are smoking by someone els who has such etiquete and who might think rude of you if you don't follow.

Its like you having a rule of no nht in your hookah and someone comes and stuffs it in there.

1 it is wrong because that is not what a hookah is there for , NEVER
2 it is unethical because it is no doubt against your rules

so essentially you would not like it if someone broke your "etiquete" , don't do it to them.

peace

-H&S

Better check your history a little, it IS what they are for, it's just not what WE use them for.

[*HOT&SMOKING*]

i approve of them except hookahs being on grounds i mean its cool if they arn't but sometimes it just doesn't work out
and also i like switching hands while i smoke.

if you smoke somewhere where people are strict by that it would be rude to not follow tradition

I agree to that because I think it is only right to follow etiquete and custom IF you are smoking by someone els who has such etiquete and who might think rude of you if you don't follow.

Its like you having a rule of no nht in your hookah and someone comes and stuffs it in there.

1 it is wrong because that is not what a hookah is there for , NEVER
2 it is unethical because it is no doubt against your rules

so essentially you would not like it if someone broke your "etiquete" , don't do it to them.

peace

-H&S

Better check your history a little, it IS what they are for, it's just not what WE use them for.

*sigh* stupid me, yeah I realised I was kinda wrong when I posted it, hoped no one would pick it up. I just wanted to make a point essentially and needed an example.

Seeing as which you picked it up I will edit it accordingly.

-H&S

[erufiku]

Wow, never realised that there were so many rules to smoking hookah in Syria.
My take on this is that you have to follow the customs, especially if you are not "from there". Judging other cultures' traditions is pig-headed: they developed over hundreds if not thousands of years and represent the cultural heritage of the nation. Sure, the innocent american traveler wants to make the world a better place. Unfortunaly (s)he doesn't understand that the values of societies differ. Case in point: G. W. Bush.
Maybe I'm just a conformist, but I always try to follow the local etiquette and tradition to the best extent of my knowledge when traveling. And I can't understand all the people who just bitch about things being different from back home. That's why you go traveling, to experience something different.

[Venzor]

I don't have a problem with people performing useless actions, so long as they are harmless. It is those who take umbrage that I disagree with. I would contend that there isn't a reason to take offence, owing to the fact that the custom benefits no one.

One scenario I can think of... reversing the circumstances anyway...

Someone from another country likes to show his middle fingers to everyone. Where he's from, that's not a big deal. It's perfectly harmless. So he decides to come to America, and as he's used to, he shows his middle fingers to everyone. People become offended.

Our custom of not showing your middle finger to other people really benefits no one and therefore, the visitor should continue doing it, without regard to what anyone thinks.

It's called respect. It's a courtesy.

Another circumstance, a bit more realistic

I'm going to Japan. I want to visit a friends house and smoke hookah, Japanese style So I go into his house, and a dilemma: do I leave my shoes on as I step onto the flooring? I do like my shoes, they fit nicely. I never had to do this back home, but I know most Japanese find it improper. It's a custom that really benefits no one, so my friend shouldn't take offence if I don't.

Again, it's a matter of being respectful of other people and their wishes.

You are right, though, you don't have to follow these customs, and I doubt anyone would rarely, if ever, confront you about it if you didn't. Just don't be surprised if you're not receiving the warmest welcomes from the locals.

[erufiku]

I don't have a problem with people performing useless actions, so long as they are harmless. It is those who take umbrage that I disagree with. I would contend that there isn't a reason to take offence, owing to the fact that the custom benefits no one.

One scenario I can think of... reversing the circumstances anyway...

Someone from another country likes to show his middle fingers to everyone. Where he's from, that's not a big deal. It's perfectly harmless. So he decides to come to America, and as he's used to, he shows his middle fingers to everyone. People become offended.

Our custom of not showing your middle finger to other people really benefits no one and therefore, the visitor should continue doing it, without regard to what anyone thinks.

It's called respect. It's a courtesy.

Another circumstance, a bit more realistic

I'm going to Japan. I want to visit a friends house and smoke hookah, Japanese style So I go into his house, and a dilemma: do I leave my shoes on as I step onto the flooring? I do like my shoes, they fit nicely. I never had to do this back home, but I know most Japanese find it improper. It's a custom that really benefits no one, so my friend shouldn't take offence if I don't.

Again, it's a matter of being respectful of other people and their wishes.

You are right, though, you don't have to follow these customs, and I doubt anyone would rarely, if ever, confront you about it if you didn't. Just don't be surprised if you're not receiving the warmest welcomes from the locals.

+1 but I won't agree about the japanese thing cause I think it's a great sign of respect, ie. the hosts not having to clean up the mud you drag in. Dunno, I always do it, and expect the same of other people. Walking in your street shoes inside your hose was fine and dandy back when North American homes had dirt floors, but I think we all moved beyond that stage?

edit: I'm assuming the hookah places have large syrian hookahs, because I don't really see the mini-hookahs being placed on the ground...? Edited April 4, 2008 by erufiku