Replies

Wow.

YOU can read, can't you? I DON'T SMOKE!

I have to ask, do you really think a house fire or a car fire has no consequences for anyone other than the owner?

YOU do know how insurance works, don't you?

YOU do park next to other cars, don't you?

YOU pay taxes for fire and police, don't you?

YOU or one of your loved ones lives or have lived in an apartment or a duplex or a house close enough to the neighbor that fire could easily spread?

Smokers used to exercise personal responsibility as a habit, until it was made illegal and impractical. The unintended consequence was you have to pick up little pieces of paper, but you'd prefer more loss of property and life to other innocent people as collateral damage, as long as a few smokers get taken out first.

Glad to see you're taking the moral high ground.

I guess it'd be crazy to suggest we let smokers have an occassional ash tray without triggering a lawsuit or citation, rather than encouraging them to accidentally burn down their property and that of others?

"YOU can read, can't you? I DON'T SMOKE!"

YOU and YOUR is used in the general sense, to describe smokers. It's like me saying, "If YOU use cocaine and kill YOURSELF, too bad -- it's YOUR life." Did I really have to explain that to you (the real "you" this time, not the smoker or cocaine user "you")?

The all-caps emphasis was added to -- hopefully -- get the point of personal responsiblity across, but apparently there's no hope for that. None. It's the law making people do it, not the people.

"The unintended consequence was you have to pick up little pieces of paper..."

There's nothing "unintended" about someone deciding to throw a cigarette butt from their car, especially when there's an ash tray in the car. Even if there wasn't an ash tray in the car, it's still up to you (i.e. the smoker) to dispose of it properly.

"Smokers used to exercise personal responsibility as a habit, until it was made illegal and impractical."

Is this anything like guns kill people, people don't kill people? Smokers have always thrown their butts to the ground. (Not YOU you, of course, I'm talking about smokers in general.)

"Glad to see you're taking the moral high ground."

Really, coming from someone who keeps hatching excuses for why folks decide to throw their trash to the ground? You have a right to smoke, but you (the smoker "you") infringes the rights of others -- with potentially hazardous results -- when you (again, the smoker "you") make the decision to throw a cigarette butt out. It really is that simple.

"I guess it'd be crazy to suggest we let smokers have an occassional ash tray without triggering a lawsuit or citation, rather than encouraging them to accidentally burn down their property and that of others?

You can't have an ash tray in your home, car, or on your property? And, are you saying I should have a legitimate concern over those "little pieces of paper" I have to pick up from "unintended consequences?"

If you don't like the laws, fight to have them changed. I don't like being required to have a permit to carry a concealed weapon, but it's the law -- and I obey it.