Disrespectful smokers/litterers

[myswtghst]

This struck me while I was outside on a break, and I felt the need to have a little rant about it. I'll preface this by saying that I am a sometime smoker--I keep quitting without success, but at most, I smoke a few a day unless I'm drinking, in which case I tend to chainsmoke. I like to think of myself as a polite smoker, though--I go to designated smoking areas to smoke, and I'll do my best to blow smoke away from anyone with me when I'm smoking.

That being said...

People who leave their cig butts and chewed gum on the ground 2 feet from an ashtray and a garbage can tick me off. I've been known to put out a cig on the street if there's no ashtray within walking distance (and I'm talking within a block, not within a few feet) but I never do that when there's something nearby, let alone when I'm standing right next to it. :rolleyes:

I also ended up behind a guy smoking while going through the drive-thru today at Wendy's, which is another one of my biggest pet peeves. It's gross and it's rude, especially if the cashiers and/or people in the car(s) behind you don't smoke, or just don't want to breathe your secondhand smoke.

I'm one of the few smokers I know who is glad for all the smoking bans being passed--it's helped me cut back, and it makes the atmosphere so much nicer for those who don't smoke and don't want secondhand smoke. Plus, it helps so we don't all have to deal with the idiots with no manners. :p

[BookstoreEscapee]

There is a conveyor (sort of like the skyride at the amusement park) that carries empty totes and boxes through the warehouse so you can just grab one as they go by (they float by above your head). I once found gum stuck to the outside, under the lip of the tote...gross...

[Greenday]

People who leave their cig butts and chewed gum on the ground 2 feet from an ashtray and a garbage can tick me off. I've been known to put out a cig on the street if there's no ashtray within walking distance (and I'm talking within a block, not within a few feet) but I never do that when there's something nearby, let alone when I'm standing right next to it. :rolleyes:

The head of my dorm threatened to ban smoking around the building because so many smokers would just throw all of their butts on the ground, instead of one of the many ashtrays right there. I agree. It's unfair to make the cleaning crew pick that crap up.

I'm one of the few smokers I know who is glad for all the smoking bans being passed--it's helped me cut back, and it makes the atmosphere so much nicer for those who don't smoke and don't want secondhand smoke. Plus, it helps so we don't all have to deal with the idiots with no manners. :p

I LOVE the smoking bans. I LOVE coming out of a bar and not smelling like smoke.

[BlaqueKatt]

I'm being nice-but this (http://www.smokersclub.com/banloss3.htm) is all I have to say

[Killer Bees]

I stay clear of smokers. They are disgusting. I've never smoked and the smell of it just chokes the life out of me.

I won't accept service in a store from someone who has smoking breath. I deliberately didn't a buy bed I wanted once because the sales guy reeked of it. He got the shits at me but I didn't care.

If he doesn't have any respect for his own personal hygiene, I ain't giving him my money.

[myswtghst]

BlaqueKatt--Trust me, I hate that it affects businesses, and I wish we could find a good median solution, but there isn't one. As a friend of mine says, having a non-smoking section in a restaurant is like having a non-peeing section in a pool. It doesn't work, unless it's a very large space with a really good ventilation system. I've been to bars with good ventilation systems that would've been fine to keep allowing smoking, but I've also been to tiny little bars where even a chainsmoker like me felt short of breath when I left, and had to hang my clothes outside over night to air them out.

My biggest problem is that the rude, icky smokers ruin it for everyone else. I don't mind people smoking in bars, but people leaving butts all over the floor and holding a lit cig on the dance floor or in the pit at a concert make me angry.

I do wish they'd still allow it some places (i.e. bowling alleys and Denny's), but I suppose they had to draw a line and (as we always advocate on here), allowing exceptions lead to everyone wanting to break the rules.

I guess for me, the bottom line is that I choose to smoke, therefore I accept the consequences--possible cancer, smelling like smoke, and the lot. And while some might disagree, I don't think that by going into a bar, you're choosing to smoke--sometimes you just don't have a choice if you want somewhere to hang out with good music and booze, and to socialize with friends.

I guess I just think its more fair to make the smokers go outside/into a certain area to smoke, than to make everyone deal with smoke. Or, to put it bluntly, if we make things wheel chair accessible, why not make them ok for people with allergies/asthma as well, if we can?

*steps down off of soapbox*

[Greenday]

With all those reports of losing business, I wonder how much of it is actually legit? I mean, no one in NJ can complain. The ban doesn't affect just one bar or resturant, it affects ALL of them so it's not like you can just go somewhere else and smoke.

[jnd4rusty]

I stay clear of smokers. They are disgusting.

The habit is disgusting the people are not. Now saying that, I am a smoker and I am not a disgusting person and my personal hygiene is just fine. I admit that smoking is a bad habit but I have been smoking for twenty two yrs and it is a hard habit to kick. More power to the ones who have been able to quit, I just don't have that will power nor do I wish to give up that crutch at the moment. I respect the fact that you have an opinion on the matter but I feel a bit offended at the disgusting person remark. Just my thoughts:)

[XCashier]

People who leave their cig butts and chewed gum on the ground 2 feet from an ashtray and a garbage can tick me off.
I hate litter of any kind, but cigarette litter is so common it's disgusting. Exiting the freeway onto Coburg Road, the entire side of the off-ramp is covered in cigarette butts. Here we are, in one of the most beautiful, greenest cities in the US, and these folks have to toss their cig butts all over the side of the road! We're talking THOUSANDS, not just two or three.

Back when I lived in Arizona, there were wildfires every year, usually started by some jerk throwing his still-hot cig butt into the tinder-dry brush by the side of the freeway. Despite all the advertising, despite the "Fire Danger - Extreme" signs everywhere, these morons can't be bothered to use their ashtray. Result: hundreds of acres burned, resources consumed, wildlife threatened, even homes and human lives endangered, because of laziness and carelessness. :pissed:

Yes, this is a major hot topic for me (if you'll pardon the pun). Don't most cars have ashtrays? If you smoke in your car, use the ashtray, that's what it's there for! If your car doesn't have an ashtray, you can get one at any auto parts store, they're not exactly difficult to come by. There is no excuse to litter, or to endanger the environment.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I smoke, but not very often. A pack of 20 will last me for weeks. However, I am considerate; I don't blow smoke in people's faces or flick ash at them. Would be nice tho if some of the more millitant nonsmokers could give me the same consideration... I mean the ones who plonk themselves down next to you on a bench or bus shelter and then demand you put your fag out. Or who go all out for a smoking ban but would burst a blood vessel if a new law was introduced that reduced their freedoms.

As for smoking in bars, I think of it this way. There's a pub near me that has a bitchy barmaid; instead of demanding she be sacked, I choose not to go there. There's also a pub that allows children in the bar; I don't demand that they ban children from the bar, I choose not to go there. I understand that nonsmokers don't want to breathe smoke, but a lot of the stuff about passive smoking is just hysterical propoganda. You get more toxins walking by the side of the road, but no-one's suggesting we ban cars. After all, there's loads of people who grew up with parents puffing around them who didn't develop cancer or any other smoking related illnesses.

Personally, I find discarded gum to be more disgusting than discarded butts; at least butts don't stick to your shoes and clothes, and are easy to pick up and put in the bin. Gum sticks to pavements for an eternity; the town where I go shopping has bins with stubbers and ashtrays so is fairly free of fag ends; however, the pavements are covered with gum spots. They've put up boards for people to park their chewing gum now in an attempt to stop people from chucking their gum on the floor; some people use them, but the majority of people just don't care.

(Disclaimer: This is a general rant, not directed at anyone on this board.)

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Lace, there just aren't that many places to go if you are a non smoker. Just about all concerts are in bars or pubs. If I want to go to a show, then my choice is the breathe smoke, or stay home. In fact, I myself had to give up playing music in a pub for that very reason. That's not exactly fair. And its' not a good set of choices.

I really don't know why so many smokers think they are exempt from litter laws. Either they think that, or think butts are not litter. Either way, I don't get it. When I was working public tv, some stupid wanker set the gutter on fire by tossing a butt out the window at the stop sign. It was spring, and the lit butt fell into the gutter of the street where piles of oak catkins had blown and gathered. The catkin pile ran the legth of the street, and are apparently very flamable.

The fire was about 15 feet long by the time we got to it. True story.

I also saw an instance where a couple on their way to Pennsic had the asshole in the car ahead of them toss a lit butt out the window. It blew into their window and went into their back seat, unbeknownst to them. It set some stuff on fire in the back seat before they noticed it. Real nice.

Got into a debate...okay, I admit. Got into an argument with a d#ck on an SCA message board who thought it was his right to wade through a crowd with a lit cig. Conversation started because a girl was complaining she'd been burned rather badly by someone with a lit cig in a crowd. His reasoning was that she should have expected lit cigs to be in a crowd, and if she didn't like it, she should not come out. I asked him if I could walk around with my dagger out like that. After all, we SCAdians tend to go about armed. He should expect that, right?

I should probably point out that this particular guy was well known for being a childish, self involved asshole.

So if we non-smokers are a bit humorless about some of the smokers out there, here are some reasons.

[Lace Neil Singer]

But, like I said, there are non smokers who are equally bad. Read my example about the idiot who sat next to me on a bench and demanded I put my fag out. Last time I checked, no-one owned the outside.

As for places for nonsmokers; I believe it should be down to the individual bar owner. They should be also able to create a smoking room for smokers and not have to pander to wimpy liberals who want to impose their views on people for "their own good". What's next, banning drinking in bars too?

[iradney]

I'm an ex-smoker. I smoked for 10 years and quit 3 years ago. I fell off the wagon a few weeks and puffed a pack, but since then I haven't touched the stuff.
Here in SA, we have designated smoking areas in restaurants. Bars - not so much...
Nightclubs...not so much. If basic consideration were excercised by all parties (smokers AND non-smokers) then it wouldn't be such a big issue.

If smokers would not walk through crowded areas (like dancefloors) with a lit butt in their hands, or stub ciggies out on the floor when around the pool table, it would be nice.
If non-smokers would think that "hey, there's a smoker on that bench, I think I'll sit on THIS one", and realise that they have a choice of where to go and sit, that would also be nice.

Speaking of litterers, the taxis in this country make my head explode. They're mobile deathtraps that have a limit of 16 passengers, but they carry at least 22. Every day, EVERY DAY, I see cans, packets, cores, peels etc being flung out the windows. At the taxi ranks (this is where people line up to catch a taxi) there is a layer of litter that is ANKLE DEEP....*sigh*

[MadMike]

Let's keep this to the original topic -- disrespectful smokers and people who litter, not smokers in general, or whether it should be outlawed in all public places. Those topics are better suited for Fratching.

That being said, I definitely agree about the idiots who apparently think that it's perfectly OK to throw their cigarette butts everywhere. I never understood that myself. I think it's like someone else said, that for some reason, they just don't think of it as litter. Most of these people wouldn't even think of throwing a candy wrapper out of their car, and yet think nothing of throwing a piece of paper that is smoldering, and could start a fire. I just don't get it.

I was also in a situation where someone threw a butt out of their car, and it landed in mine. Nothing caught on fire in this case, but the thing landed in my lap. I'm not a violent person, but my wife had to talk me out of chasing the other person down.

And on the other side of the coin, as Lace pointed out, there are idiot nonsmokers as well. I don't smoke, but my ex and most of her friends did. Ages ago, when smoking was still allowed in the malls, we stopped at one of the restaurants in the mall, sat down in the smoking section, and those of us who smoked lit up. Next thing we know, some stupid woman, who chose to sit in the smoking section, despite the non-smoking section being almost completely empty, decides to complain. :wtf:

[Becks]

At work, we have a nice smoking area. (The ONLY place EMPLOYEES are allowed to smoke...customers can smoke in front of the store, if they want.) We have at least two huge ashtrays and four of those thingies that look like bongs. Still, some lazy smokers will just drop their cigarettes wherever. :sigh:


IWould be nice tho if some of the more millitant nonsmokers could give me the same consideration... I mean the ones who plonk themselves down next to you on a bench or bus shelter and then demand you put your fag out.

I LOVE (sarcasm) when I'm sitting outside enjoying my smokey treat and a non-smoker will plop down RIGHT next to me when the other three benches are EMPTY and complain about the smoke. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.

However, a few coworkers are former smokers and will occasionally go outside while on break. If they got out there first, I'll ask them if it's ok that I sit near them (not right next to them, unless all other spots are taken!!) and smoke. They're cool with it. And if the smoke blows towards them, I'll ask them if they want me to move. I'm nice like that.

[blas]

OT but....

I'm cracking up at the foreign slang for cigarette butt. Fag...that's clever.

Where I come from, a fag is a really derogatory name that I use when describing my ex boyfriend that I work with.

I just love this all over the world slang!

[MadMike]

At work, we have a nice smoking area. (The ONLY place EMPLOYEES are allowed to smoke...customers can smoke in front of the store, if they want.) We have at least two huge ashtrays and four of those thingies that look like bongs. Still, some lazy smokers will just drop their cigarettes wherever. :sigh:


Yeah, we have that problem at my job too. I see them scattered throughout the parking garage, along the catwalks, and sometimes people even just toss them over the edge, into the tan bark below, which has almost caused a fire a few times.

[Boozy]

It only takes a few people to just throw their trash or butts on the ground until the tipping point is reached and everyone just gives up and tosses their crap wherever.

Tragedy of the commons.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

"But, like I said, there are non smokers who are equally bad. Read my example about the idiot who sat next to me on a bench and demanded I put my fag out. Last time I checked, no-one owned the outside."

Well, that guy, and others of his ilk, are dillholes who deserve to have a cig put out in their freaking eye.

It's one thing, as a non-smoker, to ask that people stay away from you with their smoke if you were there first. It's quite another to invade a smoker's space and demand he stop what he was doing before you showed up. Common sense and courtesy works both ways.

My friends and I have a "music tent" we sent up at SCA events. We will find a smoke-free place to set it up. There is a No Smoking sign on the wall. If someone smokes in our tent, or in our doorway, we will assume they are on fire and will act accordingly. :devil:

[Jinxy]

I am a smoker, almost 20 years now, I don't care to quit and am just as disgusted as anyone else to see butts on the ground. I know how to dispose of my garbage correctly and do so. I get grossed out at overflowing ashtrays as much as the next person but that doesn't mean I have to throw my stuff on the ground.

Jinxy who's not 100% green but getting there

[Andara Bledin]

I think part of the reason a lot of smokers who are jerks throw their butts everywhere is a minor form of rebellion in reaction to all of the aggressive villification of smokers in society today. If they're going to be treated like villains, then they are going to act like it.

Otherwise, there are a lot of people out there who are just plain pigs. There was a guy I would see at the bus stop before I moved. He'd taught his little boy to throw his empty candy wrappers and juice bottles into the street!

^-.-^

[NightAngel]

Here's my answer to the problem:

Let the establishment owners decide. All smoking or all non-smoking- they can post a big sign on the door: THIS IS A SMOKING (or non) ESTABLIHMENT!

If you're a non-smoker you just simply can avoid that place or vice versa.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Well, that guy, and others of his ilk, are dillholes who deserve to have a cig put out in their freaking eye.
*snerk* Somehow, that made me nearly break rule 1. XD

It's one thing, as a non-smoker, to ask that people stay away from you with their smoke if you were there first. It's quite another to invade a smoker's space and demand he stop what he was doing before you showed up. Common sense and courtesy works both ways.

*nods* I am a considerate smoker. I won't blow smoke in people's faces or flick ash at them, I stub out against a wall then stick the fag end in a bin, and I don't throw my empty packet or plastic bit on the floor. I am nice. However, anyone who disregards my niceness will end up getting Ebil Lace right in their face. :devil: Which is not something that anyone wants, believe me.

[myswtghst]

...I mean the ones who plonk themselves down next to you on a bench or bus shelter and then demand you put your fag out.

I completely agree--this ticks me off every time.

...As for smoking in bars, I think of it this way. There's a pub near me that has a bitchy barmaid; instead of demanding she be sacked, I choose not to go there. There's also a pub that allows children in the bar; I don't demand that they ban children from the bar, I choose not to go there.

The issue with this (for me/in my area) at least, is that it wasn't a choice. Every bar had smoking, it was just a matter of picking the most well-ventilated one, if that. And as a karaoke-hound, I have to work to find bars that have karaoke on the nights I'm able to go out. Once I narrowed it down that much, I was never able to find any that were non-smoking. Now they all are.

One thing I wish more bars would do is cater to the smokers now that the smoking ban has been passed. Some places in my area (the ones who are still doing good business) have put up outdoor smoking areas--ones with a roof in case of rain, and chairs, and the like. I even know of one that has a "smoking bus" outside, so smokers can enjoy climate control and a roof when they go out to smoke, if they like.

[TNT]

Let the establishment owners decide. All smoking or all non-smoking- they can post a big sign on the door:

Some years ago, the Roy Rogers fast food store where I live had a sign on the door, "Smoking Permitted Throughout." The implied message was, "If you don't like it... bite me."

My mother used to go to doctor who actually had a "Thank you for smoking" sign in the waiting room... along with ashtrays in every examining room.

Ah, the good old days...

Anyways, I smoke... a lot... but it's never really occurred to me to smoke in restaurants. If I'm at a bar and I want something to eat, okay... or if we're going to sit there for hours afterwards and drink ourselves silly. But to just go in and eat, then leave... I'll take non-smoking.

Now, if you want something that truly offends me... it's people who spit. If there's a worse habit, I'm sure I can't figure out what it is. As I said to a co-worker the other day... "Dude, what makes you possibly think I want to walk through concentrated gobs of your slobber?" But I suppose that's a story for another thread.

[NightAngel]

Here's one for you guys. I was on my way up to a store, finishing my cig and looking for an ashtray. I didn't see one so I did the *flick* (litter, yes-shoot me-what else was there to do?) and proceeded on inside.

On my way out I noticed that BEHIND the trashcan, well hidden from outright view was some skinny little pole thingy with a little hole in the top for cigarette butts. The only reason I could tell it was for that was upon closer inspection I saw a tiny little picture of a cigarette.

Why would you hide the ashtray if you don't want to sweep them up from the parking lot? It was a complete fluke that I glanced over at the right time/angle to see it.

Now, when I go to the beach I have a bag or something with me to put my cigarette butts in. I leave zero litter on the beach- ever. But I never have anything with me when I'm in 'civilization' because there's usually an ashtray.

Also, I sweep them up from in front of my store all the time. It doesn't bother me at all- it's just more time I get to spend outside. We used to have a trash can with an ashtray in the top... it was stolen... trash, ashtray and all.

Weirdos.

[Banrion]

Starbucks gum comes in nice little metal cans with a flip top lid. I keep an empty one in my purse for those occasions that I can't find an ashtray. Just stub it out in the lid, and flip closed. No muss, no fuss, no smelly purse.

[NightAngel]

I don't carry a purse- I refuse. I have a wallet and keys and get along just fine. I don't understand other women's obsessive need to carry everything they own with them everywhere they go.

Men don't carry purses- why should I?

This isn't meant as a jab of any kind- it's just my opinion and how I am. :)

[Andara Bledin]

I won't carry a purse, either. But that's partially because if I did, I'd leave it behind all the time.

I have a wallet, a keyring with a clasp to hook it onto my belt loop (I like the way it jingles when I walk), and I need to get a proper clip case for my cell phone.

^-.-^

[Lace Neil Singer]

I have a handbag; in fact, I have several. XD I also plan to buy a baccy tin for stubbing and holding fag ends for when the ban comes into force on the 1st of July. :lol:

[Boozy]

I don't carry a purse- I refuse. I have a wallet and keys and get along just fine. I don't understand other women's obsessive need to carry everything they own with them everywhere they go.


Where do you put your smokes? Do you stick your wallet in your pocket, or carry it in your hands? Doesn't that tie up your hands?

I've tried to be purse-free, and these were the questions that plagued me...

[kibbles]

I don't carry a purse- I refuse.

I don't carry a purse either, but that's probably because I'm always leaving it behind, LOL!

[NightAngel]

WATCH OUT!
I have pockets on my pants and I'm not afraid to use them!
:lol:

[myswtghst]

I alternate between carrying a purse and not, depending on my mood/where I'm going. For daytime, I carry a small messenger bag purse my mom got me with crazy anime print on the outside. It holds my stuff--a novel/my DS, sunglasses, lipgloss, wallet, keys, checkbook, datebook, etc. When I go to shows or go out at night to the bar, I tend to shove my wallet in one back pocket, my cell in the other, lip gloss and a lighter in one front pocket, and my pack of smokes in the other. Only problem is I sometimes smush em up a bit. :o

And I'll usually do my best to find someplace to put my butts, if there's no ashtray, I'll put it out really well/smoosh out the cherry, and put it in the trash can or even my pocket, to throw away at the next opportunity.

[NightAngel]

I won't put cigarette butts in trashcans because I have had to extinguish many, many trashcan fires from people who have "put out" their cig and thrown away the butt. If I have the opportunity to dip the end in water (rain puddle, etc.) first then I will but otherwise- no.

[myswtghst]

I know what you mean NightAngel--I'm paranoid and won't put it in the trash unless I'm absolutely sure it's out--I like to dip it in water if I can as well.

[blas]

I took my car ashtray out once to empty it.....and it won't go back in :(

I carry a purse, but when I go to work, I leave it in my locker and just carry my ciggs in my jacket pocket.