I’ve never been a smoker so if I sound obnoxious here, please forgive me, and just shrug it off. Just think that I’m ignorant when it comes to these things.
(Full disclosure: Back in the 1970s, I did think it was cool to smoke the liquorice pipes now banned by the EU, and the long gone liquorice cigarettes, wrapped in Camel paper and all – and in fact, I smoked a liquorice pipe as recently as today. Not endorsing that habit, either, though).
But, there’s one thing about smoking and smokers that I don’t understand and it’s this: When did it become fully acceptable to just throw the butts on the ground. And not just let the butt drop, but instead, make it a sport, an ending-of-the-smoke ritual, firing off the butt with a snap of the fingers, admiring the arc of the shot?
I saw a man do that outside our house the other day, and my gut reaction was – unfortunately, maybe – to pick the butt up and take it back to him. I did that once with a bunch of drunk teenagers cutting in front of me in the bus line. Not only is the bus terminal a non-smoking area, they were very very annoying (read: being teenagers), so I picked up the butt and took it back to the boy and said, “I think you dropped something.”
He went all Austin Powers on me – “it ain’t mine, baby” – but when I insisted that I did see him drop it, he just looked at me baffled, and took the butt. I hopped on the bus, still fuming, and wondering what they’d do when I got off the bus.
Turns out, they did nothing. I walked home, skipping and a-jumping when I heard steps behind me. I took a deep breath and kept walking. Then I heard somebody cough and say, “excuse me .. excuuuuuse me.”
“Yes?” I said to the woman in her late thirties.
“I just wanted to say that I loved what you did at the bus terminal, it was a very bold thing to do.”
“Thanks,” I said, and skipped home thinking what a real life super hero I was.
But I still don’t know why it’s OK to fire off cigarette butts and litter the street in front of our house when I bet the same people wouldn’t just throw half a sandwich or a candy wrapper there.
Be warned smokers. Somewhere out there, sometime, somehow, don’t be surprised if someone comes up to you, holds up a cigarette butt, and says, “I think this is yours.”
"I just wanted to say that I loved what you did at the bus terminal, it was a very bold thing to do."
I was on a ferry from Hong Kong to Macau once, with some friends who were Hong Kong cops, experienced gun users (though they weren’t at the time), etc.
Some "teenagers" (okay, a few years older) were smoking (forbidden) in our section of the ferry and the air was getting close.
I said to one friend, "Shall we say something?" My friend said, "If we do, there’s a very good chance they’ll have us killed when we arrive in Macau. So let’s not."
Those were the bad old days in Macau, of anti-triad chiefs sitting on bombs when they got into their cars and anti-triad police being shot in public by gangsters on motorbikes.
I’ve done what you did … but it’s important to choose your battles very carefully.
Couldn’t agree more. The only littering you see these days is jerks throwing butts on the ground.
To be fair, though, I see a problem for smokers who honestly don’t want to litter. What do you do with a red-hot butt? You can’t throw it in a garbage can. You can’t put it in your pocket. You can’t walk around with it in your hand until it cools down.
I feel a money-making invention coming on. It could be HUGE! Who wants in?
The genius who invented the little compartment on the snus-box should try doing something for smokers (or for all of us) as well. Anyway, most places where people stand smoking, have a bin quite nearby. Just put it out to the ground and throw the butt in the litter. Or just quit smoking, spare us all the annoyance.
/tough love
Many years ago, while at the doctor’s office, my daughter observed a man in the atrium toss his cigarette butt on the lawn. When he walked inside she said ( in her loudest 3 year old voice),"That’s disgusting. You ought to be ashamed of yourself." He walked outside and disposed of it properly. Being humiliated by a child can be a humbling experience.