I stopped in at 7-11 for my morning coffee, and the guy in front of me

[driver8]

was buying a pack of cigarettes.

The clerk told the man the price and I said, "Excuse me, did he just say $6.55??".

The man said, "Yes -- that's right."

The clerk said, "The price of cigarettes is going up another $1.50 next week."

So a pack of cigarettes is going to cost around 8 bucks??

That is insane!

[Tommy_Carcetti]

1. I just feel for you that you had to stand behind a guy buying cigarettes.

Personal pet peeve of mine, especially when I'm in a hurry. Because inevitably, after the clerk unlocks the case and pulls out a pack and then locks the case again, the customer will always then say that's not the kind he wants, and the whole damn process repeats itself again and again.

[driver8]

2. Ha Ha -- that has happened to me...but this 7-11 doesn't lock them up.

The funny thing was, the guy buying them didn't even smoke -- he was buying them for his neighbor.

[bigwillq]

4. Smokers are not as bad as lotto people

You could be standing there for quite a long time with the lotto folks. We all have our habits.

[SoxFan]

10. A fate worse than death

Being stuck in line behind a lottery freak. Playing their friggin' $30 scratch cards while the machine bleats out that inane "congratulations, you're a winner" in a gane-show host voice.

JUST GIVE ME MY CAFFEINE AND MY COPY OF THE BOSTON GLOBE AND LET ME GO!!!!

[driver8]

13. Ugh -- the lotto people are the worst!!

And why in the hell are they in a 7-11 at 6am playing Lotto??

Let me pay for my coffee and get the hell on my way!!

[Lost in CT]

18. Lotto people getting money orders I swear to god some people

think the Quikie Stop is a bank

[no name no slogan]

19. Those fuckers will ALL burn in hell.

I got stuck behind one two weeks ago at a truck stop. I had a slow leak in a tire, and was buying something to hopefully patch it until I could get home. This lotto fucker bought a dozen scratch-n-sniff, a couple pick threes, and a few powerballs. My tire is gradually going flat, and this dumbass is blowing her dough and scratching her tickies, as the line backs up.

I'm not a violent man, but I sure learned what turned Mr. Hand into Mr. Fist that day.

[cherish44]

20. People scratching their tickets at the register with a line??

God I thought I lived in Idiot Central but even the mouth breathers around here that the courtesy to get out of line to scratch their tickets.

[Symarip]

3. For 2 dollars more

You could be smoking crack.

[driver8]

14. I was thinking that pot would be cheaper -- but I haven't bought pot

in many years so I wasn't sure about that.

[HopeHoops]

5. Dang, they were like 65 cents when I started smoking and I was pissed when they hit $1.25

Of course, I quit 24 years ago, but still.

[gmoney]

6. well, it's mostly tax...

I'd bet on an $8 pack of cigarettes, $6 or more is tax.

[MrCoffee]

7. Not if you buy them from the reservation...

No tax.

[Droopy]

8. I quit last year when they were at $4 per pack

And the money was my main motivater, I'm ashamed to say. I was smoking 2 packs a day so $240 a month. I was thinking that I could buy a decent car for that kind of money.

Now days, now that I feel so much better, I'm more pleased with the health benefits of quitting than the monetary savings. But if I had been paying $8 a pack it might be a different story.

[SoxFan]

9. Two words: suck it, Smokey

OK, that's three words.

[Tripper11]

11. Smokes in Canada have hit $10 a pack

When I was back there last summer for my brothers funeral, I went out to the bar with a bunch of friends to toast him and they all still smoked.
Most had these generic cigarettes you could get on the Indian reservations for pretty cheap. Not even packaged, came in a big bag.
The ones that had store bought, upwards of $10!!!!
I was stunned!
I smoked for 22 years before being forced to quit due to cancer(in full recovery of cancer and smoking). I can't imagine paying that now! We could barely budget it when we did smoke 7 years ago at $2.50 a pack between the 2 of us.
I don't begrudge smokers, it's a tough habit to break, but I'm sure glad I don't smoke anymore!

[Aristus]

12. To quote my Pathology instructor: "Taking dried brown leaves, crumbling them up,

rolling them up in a piece of paper, lighting it on fire, sucking on it, and inhaling the smoke...over and over and over again...THAT'S insane!"

Sorry, but cigarettes stop being expensive the moment you stop buying them...

[applegrove]

15. They have been about $11.00 in Canada for years.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

16. $10 and going up in NYC.

[cherish44]

17. They're up right now because of a price increase by the manufacturers

And this is ahead of the tax increase that goes in effect next month. Plus it's something that states love to tax the shit out of too. So yes I think they'll easily be an average of 8-9 dollars a pack before too long. Bet we're going to see a black market for cheap cigs pretty soon. I don't know why the manufacturers are increasing their prices so much ahead of a tax hike that is damn close 100% in some states. They must want to go out of business. It's what motivated me to quit, so thanks!

[Gidney N Cloyd]

21. Ex-smoker here, and never tried this but can't you roll your own pretty cheaply? nt