Unfortunately for me, I am one of the many people who waited until the last minute to shop this year. That means I spent far too many hours at various local malls this weekend.

And boy, did I see something strange.

As I pushed, juggled, sorted, purchased, maneuvered -- a.k.a. shopped -- alongside thousands of fellow stragglers (um, aren't we in a recession?!), I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw a woman smoking INSIDE at Westshore Plaza. She was just standing there nonchalantly, puffing on a slender white stick.

After a doubletake and a closer look, I realized that she was actually hawking the "electronic smoking device" being sold at a booth inbetween Bath & Body Works and Brookstone. Yep, that's right, forget New Year's resolutions about quitting your smoking habit and light up with a tobacco-and-tar-free Smoke Anywhere cigarette! Whoa.

I took a card and checked out the Web site. The product was dreamed up by a group of South Florida entrepreneurs who say it has nicotine but no second-hand smoke, which I guess is something. This sounds like an oxymoron if I ever heard one, but supposedly these cigs are a healthier smoking option. Buy five packs of cartridges, get the 6th one free. What a deal.

The company has stands at Citrus Park Mall and Countryside Mall, too. So if you also saw indoor "smokers" during your shopping travels, you weren't losing your mind. Not sure the same can be said for the inventors.

~ Deal Diva Colleen