I’m dating myself . . . but I remember all-night "Less Filling! " “Tastes Great!” contests shouted across the courtyard of my dorm. sigh It’s so good to be a grown-up and live in a real house.
Returning to the OP, smokers who think that it’s okay to smoke anywhere that’s technically “outside” suck ass. Yeah, if you stand right outside the door, you’re technically not in the building . . . but everyone who walks in or out has to walk through your fucking smoke, and, if you solve some the equations of fluid dynamics which govern the situation (don’t be scared . . . you can handle a system of 3-D coupled partial differential equations, can’t you?), you will realize that smoke does not stop at the threshold of an open door, but will actually enter the building! Isn’t science amazing?
I don’t give a shit if there is an ashtray there. That’s poor planning on the part of whoever’s in charge of placing ashtrays–or maybe they intended the ashtray to be a convenient place for smokers to extinguish their smoking materials before entering the building. In any case, use your own fucking head. You’ve already turned your money, your time, and your health over to the tobacco companies . . . maybe you could take this opportunity to exert a bit of free will instead of assuming that the almighty ashtray gods, in their infinte wisdom, have designated any place with a bucket of sand as a guilt-free smoking area.
Smoking inside bus shelters is my personal pet peeve. No, wait, fuck it. Inside bus shelters is so obviously not a polite place to smoke that it doesn’t even qualify as a pet peeve, but rather as a legitimate cause for righteous indignation. People smoking at bus stops are my pet peeve–when you can’t stand far enough away from them to avoid the smoke without having to run to catch the bus when it arrives. And if you have to light up at the bus stop, fucking stand still. I do not want to have to constantly move to avoid your cloud of nasty stench while you wander about, spreading your vile pollutant over a maximum area.
You have every right to ingest whatever chemicals you desire . . . just acknowledge that when you indulge your filthy little habit, you impose on every person in the vicinity, and try to be the least bit considerate about it, won’t you? I don’t even bother to play the cancer card anymore. All health considerations aside, it is simply unpleasant for non-smokers to have to breathe in your damn smoke while you feed your stupid, pointless addiction, and you have no earthly justification for inconveniencing everyone around you.
(To smokers who are conscientious about where they smoke: I thank you for taking the time to be considerate to others–we do appreciate it. I wish you luck if you decide to kick the habit, and I wish you smooth, satisfying taste and efficient nicotine delivery if you don’t.)