The plight of the occassional smoker

As I walked home tonight from a meeting with a very powerful "new media" company (OK, it was a friend's production company....and a damn fine one too), I found myself craving a cigarette. Since I smoked my last today and decided that I would not buy another pack I found myself searching for a loosie. What's a loosie you ask? Well my dear readers, a loosie is a single cegarette sold for 50 cents at a bodega. Nine times out of ten, this cigarette is a Newport. Why a Newport?...well, that's just the way it is. Keep in mind, as you read the remainder of this entry, that selling loosies is illegal as fuck. Although not as illegal as selling heroin or ass, their sale still falls in the realm of the illegal. Thus, as I entered one bodega on Myrtle Ave. and asked "Do you guys sell loosies?", my question was acknowledged with a swift look from the counter guy that said "you might be a cop" and a reply of "No." Disheartened but not discouraged, I continued on to the next bodega. At this one, I decided that I would attempt a more "urban" approach so I walk into the store and attemp to "ice grill" this counter attendant while proclaiming in a somewhat self-indulgent way "Yo, I need a loosie". Now, I have to say that I can only imagine that my "ice grill" came off as more of a feeble attempt at a glower that an outright scowl. This being the case, he merely brushed me off with a "I ain't got no loosies now." On to the next store. This one was a guaranteed thing as I had bought loosies from this store before and have developed something of a rapport with the staff there. The problem with buying from this store is twofold. First, they always sell you 100s which usually take at least a block and a half to smoke. This highlights the second problem; the store is only half a block from my apartment.