Thank you for smoking

Astute readers have noticed a new sign up in Wallingford. A cigar shop appears to be going in where High Maintenance Bitch went out. Michelle snapped a photo for us to gaze and wonder at.

What are we wondering? Well, for starters, we’d like to know who thinks to themselves “gosh, we’re in the midst of an economic meltdown and Washington State ranks 5th in the nation for non-smoking. Maybe I’ll pick one of the crunchier, family-friendly neighborhoods in Seattle and open a cigar shop.”

We’re also wondering whether John (who, “well on my way to elbow-patched fuddy-duddydom”, claims to put only tobacco in his pipe) speculates correctly that “cigar shop” could be a euphemism for a shop that sells “water pipes, one-hitters, and highly-accurate-for-small-weights scales”. Because Puffin Glass isn’t enough head shop for our little ‘hood? [Speaking of which, if you’d like to feel all the disorientation of getting high without any of the glee, try visiting Puffin Glass’s MySpace page.]

Finally, we wonder whether that’s some accent we’ve never seen before over and under the “g”, or whether that’s blue masking tape left over from HMB’s going out of business sign. We prefer the former.