Cigarette bummers run rampant as E is approached for a cigarette TWICE in the span of an hour across 2 boroughs!!

In an unusual turn of events, E was approached this morning, not once, but TWICE, by strangers requesting cigarettes on the street. The first incident occurred on Lincoln Road, at approximately 9:44 am, when a middle-aged woman, who often wanders the block, approached her while she was smoking on a bench in front of the local coffee shop. Although E had a mostly full pack, she anticipated a long evening of drinking and socializing, so she told the woman that she was smoking her last one. Once in Manhattan, she was approached yet again, on a street corner, at approximately 10:29 am. This time, the culprit was a woman who appeared to be in her mid to late 20s, wearing a knit cap. Again, E politely stated that she was smoking her last cigarette, and continued on her way. E offered the following the statement to our reporter on the scene:

"I don't know if people realize how expensive cigarettes are these days...I used to believe in karma, and would give cigarettes out more freely, but my economic situation has put me in a far more precariously position. Although I feel bad about lying about the status of my my pack, I feel that it is far more polite to say that I am smoking the last one, then to offer a flat-out 'NO - go away.' By the same token, I myself have not attempted to bum a cigarette from a stranger in a really long time. The urge is there, believe me - but I have resisted the temptation. I have considered petitioning The Council to assist me in lobbying for a decrease in the cost of the cigarettes, but I realize that we have bigger fish to fry for the foreseeable future. Additionally, I am shocked that I was approached both in Brooklyn and in the city. The plight of the smoker is something that few people truly recognize...why can't I smoke my cigarette in peace? Is that too much to ask? Is it?"

While our reporter assumed that E's question was one of a rhetorical nature, hee questioning gaze prompted him to thank her for the quote, and to scurry off around the corner of 7th Avenue and 38th Street.

The Council has issued no formal statement on the matter, and we have received no additional reports of cigarette bummers in the immediate vicinity.