ThingsPondered

Hookahs: they are not just for Alice’s caterpillar anymore.  A friend with a funky djembe shop at Zern’s Market tells me that his best-selling item isn’t his drums, it is the hookahs.  These days they have moved beyond Wonderland to become a very popular option among the trendy young adults in the US. 

Why?  Is it due to the crackdown on cigarette, pipe, and cigar smoking in work and public places?  Definitely not.  Smokers can’t tote a mini-hookah into any of those locales.  Perhaps hookah popularity arises from the health benefits of having the smoke water-cooled, thus reducing burn damage to mouth, throat, and respiratory tissues.  Again, I vote no.  On the whole, I assert that hookah users do not think of the practice as “smoking.”  Nor do smokers.

Let’s explore a different motive.  Is it possible that hookah popularity is a reflection of awareness of the global economy?  As trend-setters study the features of international trade agreements and consider which foreign language they should master, maybe they subconsciously gravitate towards an Asian practice.  Probably not.  Maybe hookah use is fueled by something a less intense: merely a growing openness to multicultural knowledge?  Although I applaud all movement towards celebrating diversity, I sincerely doubt this is the reason for hookah popularity.

Here is my best theory.  Hookahs are du jour.  They’re just hot.

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