Dad was in town the other weekend, and he wanted to watch the Michigan-Michigan State basketball game. He lives in East Lansing, so he’s a Spartans fan. His wife planned to spend her afternoon at Menopause the Musical, so I figured we should spend ours at a guy kind of place. We went to Cigar King, in Skokie.
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We bought H. Upmanns–Dominican coronas in metal screw-top tubes. Dad sat down and lit up while I chatted with the man in the next armchair. His name was Chuck Heisinger, and he was gripping an Excalibur while looking over an application for a sailboat slip. Heisinger smokes at Cigar King several times a week, particularly during the winter. “There’s no smoking in the house, and it’s too cold to smoke in the yard,” he said. “It’s a nice time to relax. I enjoy the taste of a cigar, and it’s a little bit of cave time.”
“I thought they were getting damn close to banning smoking in here,” Heisinger said. “That would have been a rum rebellion. If this place were in jeopardy, I’d have a real problem. It’s really an oasis.”
On the big screen, the Knicks were playing the Timberwolves. Dad asked a clerk behind the counter to change the channel to the Michigan game. He did, and no one complained. Comfy chairs and nicotine make for a placid crowd. Dad was the only smoker shouting at the screen.
