Ashes to burgers
So I’m at Sonic during lunch, wedged into one of those tight little car corrals waiting for my burger, when the lady in the car one stall over lights up a cig and starts pipping it in my direction. My windows are down, so the smoke is wafting slowing into my ride.
I would say that my personal space was invaded by this woman’s craving for a Marlboro.
Here’s what the city’s smoking ordinance says:
“Smoking is prohibited within a reasonable distance of an enclosed area where smoking is prohibited, so as to insure that tobacco smoke does not enter the area through entrances, windows, ventilation systems, or other means.
“This shall be at minimum defined by an arc measured from the center point of any public doorway or usual employee doorway or entrance utilized by the public or employees or ventilation intake regulated by this ordinance. The arc shall be 25 feet for all facilities unless the entrance is from a public thoroughfare such as a sidewalk or ally at which the arc shall be 10 feet.”
Nothing about “personal space,” but her car was definitely less than 25 feet away from a window at Sonic.
Note to smokers: Don’t light up at Sonic. Others can smell it, and it isn’t appetizing.
July 29th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Thank you for posting this!!! It is so annoying to be smothered by other peoples smoking addiction. Seriously, if smokers want to smoke and kill themselves of lung damage and such, fine, but quit killing the rest of us with your addiction please.
July 30th, 2008 at 1:10 am
I don’t smoke but because I don’t, it doesn’t give me the right to tell someone else: “you’re killing me”. Aside from the smoking issue, can you imagine if I held flags proglaiming “Fatty hamburers with cheess and fries, are killers”. Let’s just learn to respect each others “vices” and get on with our lives.
July 30th, 2008 at 2:20 am
THANK YOU, John! There is nothing worse than inhaling a draft of cigarette smoke as you are about to take a bite. The new smoking ordinance has been really great. There are some restaurants that we now frequent that we chose not to go to back when smoking was allowed (i.e., Johnny B’s).
July 30th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Atleast if someone is killing themselves with fatty hamburgers and cheese and fries, they aren’t killing everyone else around them. That’s a situation only they suffer with… smokers affect everyone around them!
July 31st, 2008 at 10:32 pm
if you don’t like it,then start your engine and drive away….sonic is an open-air dining area…you WILL NOT tell me what or what not to do inside MY car….you non-smokers make me sick with all your belly-aching …..if i choose to smoke,deal with it…….that being said,i respect your right to breath ”clean” air….just don’t expect it around me while i’m outdoors ….just go and get your air someplace else
July 31st, 2008 at 11:01 pm
While pipping it in your direction was clearly inconsiderate, at Sonic you can roll your window up until your order arrives. Besides Sonic is the last remaining place where people can go and have their smoke while they wait. The smoker could have been a little more aware of ash and such, but you had a choice whether to leave your window down or not as well…I know I have to roll my window up sometimes, especially when there are children in the car, to prevent my ear from being assaulted by foul language. Such is the hazard and joy of being in your own vehicle…you have that option.
August 1st, 2008 at 1:19 am
Well, first of all, the lady was violating a law passed by the city of El Dorado. Secondly, it’s a public space, where I have just as much right to be as you. So, compromises must be made, along with good judgement. For one, I wouldn’t crank my radio loud and blast it at Sonic, simply out of common courtesy to my fellow citizens.
It’s not a smoking issue, really. It’s about thinking of others when you are out in public. Public spaces are not yours or mine, they are everyones.
How can someone be so selfish as to tell me to go somewhere else if I don’t like the smoke?
A. It’s breaking the law, and B. It’s breaking the common courtesies that we, as fellow citizens, should bestow on one another while out in public.
August 1st, 2008 at 4:59 am
That could not have been said more perfectly John!!! Its not a smoking issue at all… its a courtesy issue and its rude and disrespectful to others to curse, play loud music, smoke, etc.
August 1st, 2008 at 5:00 pm
I agree with you John. Some people will decide to break the law no matter what the circumstances are.
August 4th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Thanks John. Some folks have no sense of propriety.