Forgive me for bastardizing the title of your book “Slaughterhouse Five” Mr. Vonnegut, but I had to find the right words for the post and the ones above I think are quite apropos.
This morning, after a particularly difficult and tense Thursday spent with cigar shops and changes at the facility my Mom is at; I felt it was the right time to reduce the number of cigars I represent. And for good reason, I have too many cigars. So I had to start somewhere, so I took those that I thought I could do without.
Now, I will not reveal the names of these cigars, they know who they are, but your need to know is a moot point. The point is I would not have been able to adequately represent them, plus some mitigating factors with one company in particular made the decision of which ones to drop quite easy.
So I wrote text messages to all three, it was quite early so calls were out of the question, plus I strike when the iron is hot – the iron being me. So I finished and sent all three and waited for responses. But, I just didn’t sit there; I was preparing to go to the pipe show.
So I hop into the car, back out and get going. I’m on my way when I heard the dink on my cell. I thought maybe it was one of the cigar manufacturers. I pulled over noticing that it was from my brother. I read his email having to do with the situation I had to deal with on Thursday regarding my Mom’s care. I read it and was quite pleased with what he had come up with. His idea would give us the leverage we needed to change the situation I experienced the day before. I sat still in the car on the street, motor humming, basically running the idea over and over in my head to figure out if it would help or hurt my Mom’s plight.
After nearly ten minutes weighing the pros and cons I quickly turned around, drove the car into the driveway, got out, ran up the stairs, opened the door and made a phone call. I spoke at length to the person I needed to contact and discussed our idea. She told me I may have something, but she would have to ask her superior. She said she would get back to me as soon as possible. I asked her to place it on the top of her list of things to do because we were in a time crunch and we needed an answer today.
But I didn’t think a phone call would be enough so I changed. I took off my jeans (the pipe show is very informal), donned a white shirt, tie and dress pants and got myself ready to meet with her personally.
Now, in the rush, I heard two dinks on my phone. They were from two of the companies I sent text messages to. And I was shocked at how the one owner ripped me up and down. And how could I even think of dropping his line. He used some pretty strong language. Well, I thought to myself, the real man has emerged. I wrote back, added my two cents and thanked him for the opportunity to meet his true self. I asked for a call tag, samples would follow.
Coincidentally, right after him, the other guy came through with his opinion of my decision. He called the fact that I sent him a text “unprofessional.” That really hit me the wrong way so I sent him a text back questioning his reasoning for attacking my reputation. I must have said something right because he sent a text back to me and in a slithering way apologized. He confirmed that a call tag would be sent for the samples.
The third cigar manufacturer apparently doesn’t care one way or the other; I have yet to hear from him. This was the first time any manufacturer had reacted in such a manner. I have always been civil, polite, and very professional in the way I word a missive to end a representation relationship. But in these two cases, I have no regrets.
I still have two other companies that are dangling at the bottom of a silk worm’s thread. I will wait because I have more faith in their cigars, and the owners have been reasonable. Plus, I believe I can move the cigar. So I am done with the carnage for now.
I quickly gathered myself and got into the car to head for the facility to get that situation cleared up as quickly as possible. And wouldn’t you know it, I head in and the person I needed to speak with was walking right toward me. She said come with me.
We headed to a conference room and she gave me the good news. Our proposal had been accepted. I was so relieved. Are we out of the woods? Not by a long shot, but the first phase is in place and we can now move on to the next level.
So needless to say I was in a grand mood when I got to the show and immediately ran into a couple of guys that I know from Michigan and they were interested in buying some of the new meerschaum pipes I now handle. So I may have been late, but I sauntered in and made the first sale of the day with a promising tomorrow.
Oh, the pizza is here. I need to go.
Every year at this time I attend the pipe show in St. Charles. I carry a variety of pipes both briar and meerschaum along with the cigars. Pipes, believe it or not, are going through a renaissance albeit it a quiet one.
I just finished listening to “Born with Teeth: A Memoir,” by Kate Mulgrew. (Little Brown & Co.) I have to say I was floored, knocked over, overwhelmed by the life she has led. You might remember her as Captain Kathryn Janeway on the Star Trek Voyager series, or as Mary Ryan on Ryan’s Hope, or more recently, as Galina “Red” Reznikov on Orange is the New Black.
So what brands make it and what ones go by the way side? It’s up to the individual who makes the cigar who will determine that. A perfect example is the Padilla brand. Ernie has been through ups, downs and sideways. But he’s still in there plugging away no matter what has been tossed into his way.
The question is, “Will either of them make it?” Being in business for 150 or 300 years means little if the skill of persistence isn’t ingrained into Mr. Bailey, and I would think so considering the fact that he’s part of a lineage of five generations of business disappointments that are as common as late payments.
“Truman Capote was the darling of an inner circle he called his Swans—Babe Paley, Slim Keith, Lee Radziwill, C. Z. Guest, Gloria Guinness, Marella Agnelli. He was their baby wizard, their bitchy sister, their father confessor. They told him who had slept between the Porthault sheets and where all the bodies were buried. The day he published a fraction of what he had learned in their company in “La Côte Basque, 1965,” he created a new art form: social suicide.” (VF)
Truman Capote had this charm, this power, this sanctity of savoir faire, this bone fide charisma that drew in a small group of ladies he called his “Swans.” And the way he drew them in was his special social association with none other than Babe Paley (Yes. That Paley, cigar smokers). “Through Babe, Truman gain(ed) an unlikely entrée into the enviable lives of Manhattan’s elite, along with unparalleled access to the scandal and gossip of Babe’s powerful circle.” (From the jacket cover of “The Swans of Fifth Avenue” by Melanie Benjamin 2016)
Methinks it is the reason guys flutter around the cigar makers of today. He or she has this notion that being around the “star” will imbue them with the life of the celebrity. They who are in the circle are now superior to the other cigar guys who don’t have this intimacy with so and so even though in reality the association is a vicarious one at best. They believe their friendship is real. And in their minds it is. They talked to so and so and even get his autograph and now they are friends – close friends when in reality they are forgotten before the pen slides off the box. But they have this guy going around “ga ga” about such and such cigar. Everyone’s being used.
After my wife and I were patted down by security, we headed upstairs to watch my son and his band, A Semester Abroad, perform at the House of Blues on Dearborn in Chicago. Not a bad venue for a 19-year-old drummer playing out his dream.
I listened to a radio show today that featured a lot of ads for cigars. The show is out of Atlanta and it’s called Smooth Draws: Cigar Lifestyle Radio Show (
Example, there’s a new cigar out there and the guy who makes the cigar is the centerpiece of the ad and he has this scowl on his face that would frighten a child, let alone attract the attention of a possible buyer. Some will criticize and say “It got your attention.” Yeah, the first time, but I just pass by it now.
I wasn’t sure if I could get one in or not, but I figured, “Go for it.” So I did. The night air was chilly and there was a bit of dampness hovering around the backyard. The tulips had blossomed and for certain – only the strong will survive.
Driving over three hours to hold an event is not always the savviest business move economically for an independent rep, but there are times when you have to go the extra mile simply because it’s the right thing to do.
IrvCigarBroker 