A couple of white guys sitting around talking: The collective rationalization of cigar smokers

At a small, independently owned cigar shop in a moderate-sized southern city, approximately thirty customers regularly gather at what has become a de facto men's smoking club to discuss sports, politics, religion, and the joys of cigar smoking. Of all the conversations to take place at Tullio's, however, none are as passionate or as recurring as the discussions on the health risks associated with cigar smoking. During these encounters, the "regulars" collectively create a linguistic defense shield that, ironically, protects them from the anxiety produced by antismoking messages. Specifically, the regulars at the shop collectively craft and share five prosmoking arguments that (1) refute the findings of the medical establishment, (2) anesthetize them from the impact of antismoking messages, and (3) relieve their cognitive dissonance and anxiety created by the act of smoking.