Outdoor ‘Smoky Place’ provides haven for campus smokers

It's 9:30 p.m., and a crowd has gathered.

Abel-Sandoz Residence Hall is barely visible in the dark. And not even the wooden picnic tables are discernible.

Only the chatter and the occasional guitar chord are heard. A butane lighter flicks on, the only source of light.

But the sign that reads "Smoking Area" is not visible, which might be why the regulars here have renamed their smoking lounge. Or maybe it is because the two picnic tables are the pews of this congregation.

"One day we had a conversation about how we should secede from the union," said Paul Foster, self-proclaimed "Smoky Place" king and sophomore French education major. "We first started on variations of the USA … but we decided that was too complicated and decided to name it the ‘Smoky Place.'"

The appreciation for smoking brought them together, Foster said, but the friendships that have grown make the lounge more than just a place to satisfy nicotine cravings.

"It is obvious that people would congregate here, and we formed this little community," said Daniel Schaefer, a freshman political science major, while rolling his own cigarette. "A lot of non-smokers look down on smokers, but there are a lot of cool people out here."

And there are many onlookers, as the smoking area is located near the main entrance doors to the Abel and Sandoz dorms. But for the regulars, it has been a great way to meet and make friends during their first month of school.

"Everyone I hang out with or see anymore, I met out here," Foster said, even though he didn't know anyone beforehand. "I can always bum a smoke or a light."

With regular smoke breaks and nightly gatherings, the smokers' bonds grew fast.

"I usually don't go down there to smoke unless there are people out there," said Matthew Dean, freshman mechanical engineering major. "It is just a great place to connect with people."

What started as a place to smoke a satisfying cigarette, cigar, pipe and maybe the occasional hookah, has now become more of a place for socializing.

"When it was warmer it used to be a lot more," Dean said "We would go spend a couple hours out there each night, but now that it's colder, we go out for a cigarette or two and come back in."

During the warmer days, large groups with guitars could be found most nights and "Hookah Hump Days" were every Wednesday, Dean said.

"There was briefly ‘Dance Party Wednesday Mornings,' which was at midnight on Tuesdays, but that only happened once," Foster said. "And we said we were going to make it a regular thing."

And as the group grew, residents from dorms beyond Abel-Sandoz began making the trek to smoke in this makeshift lounge, Foster said.

However, as the summer nights end, the smokers are moving their friendships indoors.

"From my closer friends, we still hang out," Dean said "And the ones that aren't, we still see each other all the time."

However, these smokers still regularly meet for a community smoke. Together, they make plans to put in a fire pit and other amenities.

"You could add a little bit to my housing bill if you get a smoker's hot tub," Foster said.

kaykemmet@dailynebraskan.com