The winter weather has broken. It hit almost 60 here and the rain that is falling has helped wash the snow away.
The problem is all the trash that was hidden in and under all that snow is now set free.

The real burn is the thousand of cigarette butts that are all over the lawn. All winter people have just flicked they butts out over the lawn before coming into the funeral home, or hanging outside enjoying their cigarettes and were to lazy to put them in the trash cans or butt cans

My wish tonight is that every person who has done this, should get their cigarette butts back to them.
Like magic they should reappear back on their own homes, in their cars or any other places so they can see each and every butt.

You smokers know who you are and what I mean.

A curse on every lazy bastard.


NEXT WEEKS RANT: People who can't keep their hands off the glass doors.

Imagine if a big cyclone wind formed over each country and it only picked up cigarette butts. And when the wind stopped all the butts that had ever been thrown on the ground were dumped in one mountain of butts. In the USA it would be in Kansas. The mountain would be taller than Pike's Peak and the base would be 132 miles across.

Just as smokers don't care about their own health, they don't care where their butts go.

As a smoker flicks their butt on the ground I'm tempted to say, "Hey, you dropped something."

Comedian Steve Martin had a bit about smoking. A smoker asks, "Mind if I smoke?" and his reply was, "No, do you mind if I fart."

Our town has Whiskey Row--an Old West street filled with saloons and honky-tonks. Voters approved a referendum banning indoor smoking a few years ago. Now the sidewalk on Whiskey Row is littered and stinking from butts.

It's a funny thing about smokers, they really don't seem to feel there's any big deal about flicking ashes or discarding of butts outdoors, onto grass, outside a window or outside a moving vehicle. My personal 'favorite' is seeing people bury a butt deep into the sand on a beach.

Friends of mine almost evicted their upstairs tenants because the son kept leaving butts all over the front of the house, also flicked ashes out the window right onto the patio furniture, burning a hole into the plastic.

My company is sending out notices all the time to tenants who leave cigarette butts outside the grounds, in front of other people's apartments, etc.

They almost can't be blamed...it seems to be a built in inconsideration, that this is some sort of right they've acquired to compensate for not being able to smoke indoors.

The hatred shown to smokers is quite evident here.I would bring my two favorite smoking rights' groups to help defend smokers but it wouldn't do any good.

Even 1) the "International Federation of Smokers" and 2) "And Now Defending Smokers" wouldn't help because you'd all just say "No I.F.S., A.N.D.S or Butts".

FWIW - I stopped smoking ciggies 11 months ago and now the sight of butts on the ground repulses me.

When I smoked (and thank God I don't any longer), I often found myself on the outside looking in - into stores, bars, restaurants, etc. You would be surprised how few have decent facilities to dispose of cigarettes. They either don't have ashtrays outside, or they don't empty them with any regularity. I personally was afraid to throw my butt in the trashcans outside because of fire.

Personally, I would throw my butt on the ground and make sure that it was completely out. Then I would throw it in the trash. However, I think that plenty of smokers are annoyed about being ostracized and treated like pariahs.

It appears to me that the 'hatred' is not so much toward smokers, but toward the way they discard their cigarette butts. I'm not even sure it is so much hatred as frustration at the inconsiderate littering. Long as there's a garbage can nearby, there is a place to throw out a cig.

Personally, I was never a smoker and always tolerant of it no matter HOW unpleasant...and actually felt smokers were being unfairly cheated when the ban in restaurants took hold in NJ. However...have to admit restaurant dining is much nicer than in the 'smoking' or 'non-smoking' section days.

That smokers are on the outside looking in is unfortunate, and I am sure we all defend their legal right to do so where it is allowed, including in one's own home and in the great outdoors.

But it's no justification for discarding of butts & ashes wherever they feel like it.

I noticed here (Philadelphia) when snow melts there is loads of dog crap under it, people must think they don't have to clean up after their dog when there is snow on the ground. Dog crap on the sidewalk is a big problem here to begin with, I never remember seeing it this much when I was growing up. I think dogs have become more popular or people have become lazier, or could it be a bit of both? Either way I'm sick of it, I can't walk 100 feet it seems without seeing that mess on the sidewalk...

.....imagine a dog owner who is a smoker. Double Dooty.

Doesn't Philadelphia have a pick up after your dog law?

I always notice large accumulations of butts near stop signs at the end of highway exits. Pennsylvania had a pretty big capaign aimed against this behavior several years ago. Part of the program was encouraging people witnessing motorists flicking butts to call a toll-free number to report them. The motorist would then receive a warning in the hope of getting the to correct their behavior. It was mildly successful.

oh yeah, that you see around here all the time. It is like make the stop, and flick it out. Along with coffee cups!

Spoke too soon, huh?

Oh man, you aren't kidding

Yesterday was a bear and it has snowed all night long and is still going...We are right back to full blown winter weather, But as upset as we all are after a long hard winter, we know that it will not be much longer to freedom from this crap.

People here are in a sour mood!
Between the weather and higher prices on gas and almost everything else, people have had enough.

And it is only Monday!

Schools are all closed and some parents have to scramble to find people to watch their kids and still get to work on time.

Two cigarette disposal issues bother me, besides the casual toss on the sidewalks. Driving on the highway in the dark and being bombarded by the sparks when the butts are tossed is annoying. Often someone in the middle lane will toss it out the window and onto my windshield. The other really annoying thing is a smoker emptying their ashtray into the parking lot at the mall. Do they really think that is appropriate?

We do, but no one seems to follow it.

Well, they should do what everyone else seems to be doing.....
Giving tickets with heavy fines to collect $$$$ and help close that budget gap.


I know, I know, it is hard to catch them in the act.

anywhere from 18-24 inches. With wind drifts in some places that really made things tuff.

Fathersson - where do you live - my brother in law lives near Binghamton and they got hit hard with ice followed by a ton of snow.

I agree with the hatred for smokers. I will be smoke free for 4 years on June 15th and don't ever plan to go back. However, I know exactly what you are saying SC. FWIW, I won't say I never threw a butt on the ground, BUT for the most part I always disposed of properly.

I heard this morning that L.A. just passed a law that one cannot light up outside any restaurant unless they are more than 10 feet away.

A couple years ago, I heard a rumor they were gonna consider banning smoking INSIDE the condo units I live in. I can't believe they could do that. Well, it never came about and I don't smoke now so it doesn't matter to me BUT to that I'd say WTF? How can you tell someone they can't smoke in their own home?

TIS

It's been tried, usually by other residents.

I've heard a couple of news stories about NYC apartment dwellers attempting to sue neighboring residents whose cigarette smoke permeates their apartments. The reasoning is usually concern for their child's health which is understandable...but I personally think it's deplorable to tell ANYONE whether they can or cannot smoke in their own dwelling, that they pay for.

I happen to have smoking neighbors right across the hall from me...on evenings when it's just too much I have the air freshener ready & waiting to spray up & down the hallway. I would never have the nerve to knock on their door and aks them to either stop or open a window (I'm not very confrontational in person... ).

Both smokers and non-smokers are capable of being quite selfish and inconsiderate when it comes to regard for the 'other side'. I think that unfortunately for smokers, the tide has been turning for years and little by little, state by state, there WILL be non-smoking residential communities, just as there are non-smoking beaches, office buildings, bars & restaurants.

On a happier note, it is so nice to see that so many BB'ers have quit the habit, for their own sake's not mine. I remember a somewhat ugly incident several years ago when people were whining big-time about non-smoking rooms at a hotel.

Well, it might be different perhaps for apartment resident, I don't know. But, I think that those of us who own our condo/home should be able to do whatever we like in our home.

Btw, back to smoking. Even after 4 years, when I walk to get the mail or to my car, IF I smell smoke from someone nearby that's smoking a cigaret, it STILL smells good to me. This applies only to lit cigs, not stale old butts. No, I am not tempted to light one up again, but yes, it smells good. Go figure??????



TIS

So should renters. Either way, whether you own or rent you are still paying for your home. And if your building is not a 'non-smoking' one then you have the right.

The trouble w/ condos is even though they are owned, they are still connected to other units. It will really depend on how many and how strongly the non-smoking population wants to lean on lawmakers to prohibit it. Here in NYC Mayor Bloomberg has seemingly made it his life's mission to have as few places to smoke as possible.

I haven't bought a pack of cigarettes in years, and I was shocked when the man ahead of me at the deli paid $10 for a pack. These non-smoking laws keep getting passed, and smokers become larger and larger pariahs. However, that doesn't keep the governments from collecting the absurd taxes from each and every pack.

My MIL, who only quit after her recent triple bypass, drives around in a 1978 yellow Mercedes sedan with a big old bumper sticker on it that says I Smoke And I Vote. As glad as I was to see her quit, I hope she never removes that bumper sticker.

As the Speaker recently said, it's still legal, and as long as he's not breaking any laws, leave him alone about it.

Did you go to Quitters. Inc?

That story scared the crap out of me! What an incentive not to go back, huh???

I smoked 2 packs everyday, but quit cold turkey in Jan. '08. Since then, I've become a rich man. Well almost.