lucky cigarette

Plenty of taboos, rituals, and other odd behaviors are associated with the tribes of cigarette smokers. Some of these rituals are nearly universal, others are isolated and localized. They range from the almost understandable to the truly bizarre.

One such ritual associated with smoker tribes is that of the "lucky cigarette". This is not a universal ritual, but if you travel to enough tribal camps, chances are you will stumble upon this at least once.

The following is an account of the opening of the cigarette pack ritual, as performed by a member of the lucky cigarette tribes of smokers. Note that these steps are performed only after the ritual of packing your cigarettes:

1. Step 1: Remove the top part of the cellophane wrapper from the pack of cigarettes. In some tribes, all cellophane must be removed prior to continuing.
2. Step 2: Open the pack of cigarettes, according to the procedure 2A or 2B as appropriate.
3. Step 2A: If this pack of cigarettes is a soft pack, then it is opened by removing the foil from approximately one third of the top of the pack. Care is taken to not rip the tax stamp.
4. Step 2B: If this pack of cigarettes is a hard pack, open the flip top lid and remove the foil that protects the first row of cigarettes. In some tribes, the back foil is also removed.
5. Step 3: Select the cigarette that shall become the lucky cigarette. The decision method varies on tribal custom or personal preference, and might be entirely random, or might be a specific cigarette--for example, the third cigarette from the left in the back row.
6. Step 4: Pull this cigarette out of the pack, making certain that other cigarettes do not encroach on its proper place in the pack.
7. Step 5: Invert the cigarette, and place it back, upside down, into the pack in its former position.
8. Step 6: Pull out a cigarette other than the lucky cigarette, and smoke it.

The lucky cigarette is also often referred to simply as "the lucky" or "my lucky". It is forbidden to smoke this cigarette until all other cigarettes in the pack have been smoked. If, for some reason, the lucky cigarette is accidentally smoked, the owner of the pack must immediately upon noticing this imbue another cigarette with the powers of the lucky.

Another of the powers of the lucky cigarette is that it cannot be lent out or given to other smokers. It is sacred, only to be consumed by the pack's owner.