Thread: Hookahs

After some extensive research on hookahs, the more I appreciated it and disliked it. Why?

I'll start off with what I don't like. Hookahs, being identified with adolescent-college campus antics, have gotten a stigma attached to them. If I could somehow prevent the spread in America, I would, because the people smoking them really make it look bad. Their approach to it is a "drug adventure" attitude and they are always looking for the thicker smoke and the best high. Since the hookah came to America, it has taken on a different style, more like a nightclub/party experience rather than a cultural one. It just overall looks.. bad. The way they want the "cool" and "hip" flavors and the "awesome" high and the "huge clouds" that are NOT what the hookah was meant to do. It really makes me mad, because the hookah, with it's pipes, easily looks like a narcotic drug machine. (especially to conservative adults) I have a feeling that had not the colleges got to it first, the hookah would be much more popular among grown people and not have such a horrible "look" to them.

Traditional hookahs, however, look to be wonderfully cultured compared to cigarettes (and even pipes and cigars) and are truly works of art. It simply comes down to this: The point is not to get high, in fact regularly there is high at all. It is not about the biggest clouds, in fact that means that the smoke is too thick. The true purpose of a hookah is peaceful and patient meditation, which is most exemplified in the Middle East. Hookah lounges there are not loud, noisy places, but quiet places to gather socially and converse. The smoke is cool, sweet and light. Preparing a hookah for smoking takes time. You need coals, shisha, water, ice... After smoking, it needs to be carefully cleaned. I have visited forums where people smoke their American "hookahs" over 12 times A DAY. Actually, it's more of a WEEKLY thing. The flavors to a hookah add a whole new dimension to it. You can have it minty and smooth, or sweet and fruity. There are hundreds of flavors and on top of that careful blends by specialists. Each hookah is hand blown, painted and polished to perfection. But Americans, as usual, chain smoke heavy tobacco in the strongest flavors with the harshest smoke multiple times a day to a noisy background.

If I do take this up, it will be seperate from the modern American movement. It will be with respect and appreciation for the culture behind it. Personally I'd take a light, smooth, refreshing flavor with iced water for cool smoke, and smoke it Sunday nights.

I think that Americans are really getting extreme with their craze for adventure. I mean, try to talk any Eastern person onto a roller-coaster. Movies are SMASHFESTS where the main character kills/blows up/sets on fire/obliterates as many buildings/people/vehicles as he can. Music is over the top LOUD and IN YOUR FACE with people screaming into the microphone. Nobody wants do drive a mini Euro car. Nope, it's the trucks and SUV's and the fastest car on the market (not like you can go that speed anyway) The news is packed with gruesome details. Getting drunk is a hobby. Doing really stupid things is a good way to make friends. Skateboarding, BMXing and other activities are pushing the limit. Football is a "brawl with a ball" and hunting is about getting the most raw tonnage during the season, and people would hunt with a Comanche Gunship if given the chance. Video games are really maxing out on first-person shooters. Nightlife is WILD. Our food is becoming so loaded with chemicals, colorings, MSG and fats that we are killing ourselves with every burger, fry and pop-tart. Amusement parks are seriously OVERLOAD on rides. Faster internet connections=more YouTube videos in given amount of time. Even our humour gets really bad sometimes. (Comedy films are really just shitpits, sorry) They are really pushing the limit on MPAA ratings. G movies hint at adult content, PG movies regularly feature sexual references, PG-13 movie regularly feature softcore sex, and R movies are really excessive on the sex and violence. Drugs are a national pastime. Gang violence is cool and promoted in a positive light. Criminals are more and more becoming anti-heroes and not breakers of the law. RAW wrestling is extremely violent. Our speech is obscene and loaded with sexual, perverse and, well... fecal references.

Any thoughts on this?

Also, feel free to talk about Hookahs.