The search for something new and different led two teenagers to follow the whining strains of Lebanese hookahs to a corner storefront in a nondescript North Side strip mall shortly before midnight.
Entering, the 18-year-olds tentatively chose a table and, when a waitress asked what they wanted, Jennifer Dahlen and Adam Bohnenblust answered with stumped silence and a nervous giggle.
"OK," the waitress said and pulled up a chair. "Let me explain this to you."
The 20 shisha tobacco flavors on the menu, from apple to strawberry, were hookah tobaccos soaked in molasses, imported from the Mideast and known as shisha.
Promoting to buy hookahs and shisha in shops at a busy downtown, outdoor venue sends the wrong message to children. Hookah smoking my look exotic, but it is a fad among young adults that can lead to a lifelong addiction and an early death.