"...About an hour later it was time to begin auctioning off the cars; they started each car in its turn and ran it for a few minutes in this same closed-in area prior to the bidding..." LOL!
I'm an ex-smoker myself, but I'd have made an exception just this once. I'd have borrowed a cigarette from the smoker chastised for smoking earlier by the auctioneer and lit up just to see if it would be noticed.
I'd have borrowed a cigarette from the smoker chastised for smoking earlier by the auctioneer and lit up just to see if it would be noticed.Ten to one, you would have been asked to extinguish the butt or leave, with a cheering crowd acquiescing.