Brotherhood of the smokers

I noticed a very fascinating phenomenon last week when I was with my friends just before New Year. The whole phenomenon slipped my mind until today. You know the interesting thing is that there is a brotherhood of smokers all around us in society at large and if you pay enough attention to them and come in from an anthropological perspective you will notice that it is really quite amusing.

Disclaimer: I've got nothing against smokers. I think they are doing a good job contributing towards the economy.

My friends and I were walking across the road from Chijmes and suddenly I noticed one of our friends' absence. I looked behind me and noticed that he was talking to someone I didn't know. The familiarity and mutual affective gestures caused me to believe that they are friends. Then I saw the stranger passed a lighter to my friend and with the prized skill of someone familiar with the action countless times, he lighted his cigarette. Bading the stranger goodbye, my friend strolled towards us. "That your friend?" I asked. "No lah....I just needed a light.." was his nonchalant reply. I was a bit stumped...but let it rest. A few hours later when we were at Bugis..I witnessed the same phenomenon again. This time around, the stranger lighted the cigarette in my friend's mouth for him. The normalization of these incidents by my friend gave me pause. I realized that when I think about it...these incidents were happening all the time.

You know Singaporeans are not very friendly sometimes...and the reason being that we are being cramped into a small space of a city. The continuous stimulation of our minds and emotions have resulted in us being blase which is the state where you are nonchalant towards other people. The value of space...both physical and psychological has gone up substantially. It has become an important element in the individualization process. As such..Singaporeans are quite hostile..not that they are bad people but they are not so open to strangers. Usually when you approach someone on the streets...the look on their faces seem to be one of that someone or something disgusting has died within their perimeters. So often you have to convince them that you are not a salesman or a weirdo but you are just looking for directions.

So this community of friendly smokers came as a pleasant surprise. Smokers in a way are still devianized to some extent. The no-smoking signs that are around us is a statement to this community to be sensitive to those around them that don't smoke. You can't smoke in certain areas of Starbucks, trains, air-conditioned areas for example. There is therefore an institutionalization against such devianization. Sub-conciously, the institutionalization created a response in this devianized culture in the form of an affective bond. It is liken to how marginalized communities will come together to rally against unfair treatments. In this case..the smokers participate in a form of collective action in the form of un-Singaporean behavior such as friendliness.

So next time when you see smokers...learn to appreciate that they are helping us cultivate a gracious society rather than staring at them in a hostile manner and coughing on purpose to indicate your displeasure.

Disclaimer: This post is in no way to promote smoking.