10-21-2003, 01:23 AM | #1 (permalink) |
Optimistic Skeptic
Location: Midway between a Beehive and Centennial
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Smokers flicking cigarette buts out the car window
For starters, I don't smoke cigarettes. I used to smoke socially when I'd had a LOT to drink and wanted a quick nicotine buzz, but I'd always dispose of them properly. Can anyone tell me why it is that some smokers feel they have the right to toss their cigarette butts out the car window? Do they not understand the concept of littering? Do they feel they can trash their bodies with cigarette smoke and thus justify trashing the planet with those bits of crap? I have a car without an ashtray. I carry around a small plastic sack to keep bits of trash in. When the sack is full, I emtpy it into a trash can, I don't dump the stuff in some parking lot or thow it out the window as I am crusing down the road. If you do throw your butts out the window, don't give me the excuse that the car you drive has no ashtray. That's no reason not to get a portable ashtray and disposing of those butts properly.
To learn more about this subject I searched Google for cigarette. The third hit down was: http://www.cigarettelitter.org. I was a bit shocked that it would show up so high in the search list until I realized how many other people are interested in the topic as well. One last story. A while back I was hanging out on a pedestrian mall with a couple of friends that smoke. When they finished they tossed their butts onto the curb. When I told them not to throw their trash on the ground, one said 'Why not? The street sweeper has to have something to pick up.' Sheesh Talk about a rationalization.
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IS THAT IT ???!!! Do you even know what 'it' is? When the last man dies for just words that he said... We Shall Be Free |
10-21-2003, 06:22 AM | #2 (permalink) |
Crazy
Location: South Africa
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And the fire hazard. We have a huge arid bit in the centre of the country but you still see idiots tossing butts in Summer when everything is dry.
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Don't be alarmed, I'm an African. Conscience is what hurts when everything else feels good. |
10-21-2003, 07:53 AM | #3 (permalink) |
The sky calls to us ...
Super Moderator
Location: CT
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I wanted to kill the driver in front of me when he threw a cigarette butt out of the window and it exploded into a shower of sparks on my hood. It didn't cause a lot of damage, but it almost gave me a heart attack.
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10-21-2003, 10:21 AM | #4 (permalink) | |
Junkie
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10-21-2003, 10:27 AM | #5 (permalink) |
Keep on rolling. It only hurts for a little while.
Location: wherever I am
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I have to admit that when I used to smoke I was guilty of this. It was simply a convience thing. I'm not proud of it and hate having to clean butts up from my yard after parties. I have since learned the error of my ways.
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So, what's your point? It's not an attitude, it's a way of life. |
10-21-2003, 10:59 AM | #7 (permalink) |
Completely bananas
Location: Florida
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It's one of my pet peeves as well.
Huge fire hazard here during dry spells. Used to just LOVE getting beaned by lit cigarettes when I rode behind somebody on my motorcycle. Of course, smoking itself is not the most intelligent activity to begin with. |
10-21-2003, 01:28 PM | #11 (permalink) |
It wasnt me
Location: Scotland
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I'd ask more why you insist on pouring carbon monoxide out the exhaust of your car and impair my breathing, than how my one-inch (bio-degradable) butt impacts on your life.
I smoke cigs. I dont drive. Which fucks up all of our air more? Sheesh
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If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always gotten |
10-21-2003, 02:21 PM | #12 (permalink) |
Banned
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Tekaweni, with cars you can argue that they have a valid purpose, like transportation, but cigarrettes do not have any valid purpose. I will think about you the next time I wrap my lips around my tailpipe and breathe deep. Plus, I have never heard that cigarrette butts are biodegradeable. And does not driving a car allow you credits for littering? Hmm?
I have often been tempted to jump out at lights when someone drops their cig on the ground and say "excuse me, you dropped this" as I toss it into their lap or the back seat of their car. I figure if they try to get out, I can just hold their door shut until they drive away. They can't get out until I let go. If I ever do it, I will also have my mace in my hand and say, "it's just not worth it, buddy. Drive on. " |
10-21-2003, 02:35 PM | #13 (permalink) | |
Optimistic Skeptic
Location: Midway between a Beehive and Centennial
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IS THAT IT ???!!! Do you even know what 'it' is? When the last man dies for just words that he said... We Shall Be Free |
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10-21-2003, 02:59 PM | #14 (permalink) |
Crazy
Location: St. Louis, MO
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My wife does this, and I really can't stand it when she does. She also has no problems throwing various other things out of windows... pizza crusts, unfinished food, etc... she says that a little critter will get it... and it won't be there for long... sheesh...
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Always remember that you are unique... just like everyone else! |
10-21-2003, 04:14 PM | #16 (permalink) |
narcissist
Location: looking in a mirror
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I used to be VERY careful to NEVER throw my butts on the ground. I always knocked off the cherry, stomped that, then disposed of the butt however possible. But, after nearly lighting myself and my car on fire Lord knows how many times, I've given up. If I'm smoking a cigar, it goes in the ashtray, but for cigarettes, it's right out the window. If available, I will use a cup or bottle...but if it spills nasty cigarette water (gotta have a little water to put out the embers), then my car stinks for daaaaays (of course, leaving the butt in the ashtray does that too).
I was very unsure of this process, until I noticed that most cops that smoke ash out the window, and some dispose of butts that way, as well. And as far as dropping them on sidewalks, I noticed that all of the maintenance/cleaning crew at school throws their's down, and they're the ones that have to clean the place! With that said, I am conscious of certain situations in which it is VERY inappropriate to throw the butts on the ground, and as such, I dispose of them properly. And I use the ashtrays outside buildings whenever possible.
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it's all about self-indulgence |
10-21-2003, 04:34 PM | #17 (permalink) |
don't ignore this-->
Location: CA
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I hate people who don't dispose of their cigarette butts properly, PERIOD. I don't care if it looks cool that you throw it away and don't seem to care about littering, it's fucking obnoxious and it makes our planet look like shit.
I don't care about pollutants, there are too many of them to complain about, but littering is something that can be easily avoided. put your trash where it belongs or smoke the rest of the filter.
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I am the very model of a moderator gentleman. |
10-21-2003, 09:46 PM | #20 (permalink) | |
Very Proud of Ya
Location: Simi Valley, CA
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Do not speak Latin in front of the books. |
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10-22-2003, 03:57 AM | #22 (permalink) | ||
Optimistic Skeptic
Location: Midway between a Beehive and Centennial
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Quote:
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IS THAT IT ???!!! Do you even know what 'it' is? When the last man dies for just words that he said... We Shall Be Free |
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10-22-2003, 06:27 AM | #24 (permalink) | |
Optimistic Skeptic
Location: Midway between a Beehive and Centennial
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Quote:
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IS THAT IT ???!!! Do you even know what 'it' is? When the last man dies for just words that he said... We Shall Be Free |
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10-22-2003, 10:24 AM | #25 (permalink) |
All Possibility, Made Of Custard
Location: New York, NY
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Thanks for posting this. I never understood why smokers feel it's okay to just drop their shit on the ground. If I was a smoker, I'd never be able to do that. Littering is littering. I'd have to find someplace to throw it out.
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You have to laugh at yourself...because you'd cry your eyes out if you didn't. - Emily Saliers |
10-22-2003, 01:15 PM | #26 (permalink) | |
Insane
Location: The Great Northwest
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Gotta agree with you there. If you are concerned about your car stinking, sorry folks, it already does. So do you. So do your clothes. So does your house. I don't understand how smokers can stand the smell of themselves. I guess they just tune it out. Too bad the rest of us can't. I guarantee you won't smell any worse by keeping the butt in your car, so do everyone else a favor and keep it in there. Last edited by Mr. Creosote; 10-22-2003 at 01:22 PM.. |
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10-22-2003, 05:29 PM | #28 (permalink) |
Banned
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The one nice thing about cigarette smokers is that the addiction is self-limiting. Eventually they will take care of themselves through attrition. Bye-Bye, what did you want on your tombstone? How about "I am the author of my own mortality, and no one can take that from me. Cough cough, hackcckk."
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10-22-2003, 06:23 PM | #29 (permalink) |
Dubya
Location: VA
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This practice annoys the fuck out of me. Somewhere between the yankees winning the world series and someone raping my sister on the annoyance scale.
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"In Iraq, no doubt about it, it's tough. It's hard work. It's incredibly hard. It's - and it's hard work. I understand how hard it is. I get the casualty reports every day. I see on the TV screens how hard it is. But it's necessary work. We're making progress. It is hard work." |
10-23-2003, 12:51 AM | #31 (permalink) | |
Crazy
Location: South Africa
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For bacterial activity to be optimum, you need warm moist conditions. This explains the rapid decomposition of stuff in the Amazon (for example) and why your peel in the tundra could well stay there for 10 or more years.
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Don't be alarmed, I'm an African. Conscience is what hurts when everything else feels good. |
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10-23-2003, 09:46 AM | #32 (permalink) |
Insane
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yeah I can't stand that it is dangerous especially at night when you are following someone and not really paying attention and you see that shower of sparks, I have swerved a couple of times, not to mention it is disgusting and litters the sides of roads everywhere!!
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10-23-2003, 02:09 PM | #34 (permalink) |
Upright
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Bones, it's apparent that there are many people who aren't going to care nor listen. (Are you even reading the posts in this thread; you have said nothing in response?)
People do things for a reason. Maybe you could defend your side of the issue or at least express some intelligible feeling. This isn't a poll or survey. And you should save your retorts and remarks for an actual conversation. |
10-23-2003, 05:05 PM | #36 (permalink) |
disconnected
Location: ignoreland
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I live near Lake Michigan, and once in a while a bunch of people gather all the butts (thousands of them) and deliver them to the cigarette company.
I used to toss em out the window up till about a year ago, then I decided to simply use the ashtray. I think I stopped throwing them out the window when I heard birds were choking on them, I don't quite remember, but now I'm perfectly accustomed to using an ashtray. |
10-23-2003, 05:13 PM | #37 (permalink) |
Thor
Location: 33:08:12N 117:10:23W
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My gf and I were waiting to exit a parking lot. The car in front of us was sitting, waiting for street traffic to clear to exit when the passenger dumped the ashtray full of cigarette butts out her window. My gf was out of the car and was at their window in record time and firmly told her to pick up their trash or she'd have them arrested for littering. They picked it all up...
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~micah |
10-24-2003, 05:33 AM | #38 (permalink) | |
Insane
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I, of course am paying attention to the driving but you never experience when you are not directly staring at the car in front of you and they swerve, or flick a butt or something of that nature which causes you to notice!! That's what I meant |
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10-24-2003, 12:36 PM | #39 (permalink) | |
Loves green eggs and ham
Location: I'm just sittin' here watching the world go round and round
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Please give your GF a hug and kiss from me. I detest this habit and no amount of smartass answers from bones can rationalize it. My pet peeve in this vein are smoking areas. Outside our local hospital are clearly marked benches( with huge ashtrays) for smoking, and all the benches around these areas( the non-smoking benches) are surrounded by crushed butts. the smoking benches are also surrounded by butts because, and I can only assume, it is really hard to lift your arm up to dispose of your cigarette in the receptical provided.
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If you're travelling at the speed of light, and you turn the headlights on, do they do anything? My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father, prepare to die! Drink Dickens' Hard Cider because nothing makes a girl smile like a Hard DIckens' Cider! |
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10-27-2003, 10:50 PM | #40 (permalink) |
Insane
Location: Rio Grande Valley, Texas
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We're having a similar problem at our campus.
The Student Government Association is trying to add more cig butt recepticals, but it can be hard to justify them because a lot of the existing ones (placed in especially convenient areas) are not utilized.
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"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones." -- John Cage (1912 - 1992) |
Tags |
buts, car, cigarette, flicking, smokers, window |
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