# Go and give yourselves cancer somewhere else, please **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 19, 2002, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-and-give-yourselves-cancer-somewhere-else-please/104516 "2002-04-19T13:49:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-and-give-yourselves-cancer-somewhere-else-please/104516/1 "2002-04-19T13:49:33Z")
This is the third time I’ve got you fuckers smoking on the terrace next to my room. I’m sorry if I’m not polite about it, but since its 2am and I’m trying to fall asleep, please use the area everyone else uses to get their nicotine fix. And don’t you fucking stare at me for telling the RA. What you’re doing is both inconsiderate and _FUCKING ILLEGAL_. I don’t have a problem with smokers, except when they interfere with my sleep. In fact, I’d have a problem if Laetitia Casta was standing outside my room keeping me awake – well, no, actually I wouldn’t. But in any other circumstances, stop fucking around outside my room. And don’t tell me to close my window at night. Do you know just how poorly the ventilation in my room is? I have to leave a window open at night or my room becomes a damned oven. In conclusion, fuck off, you two. If I catch you again, I’m calling campus security. ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-and-give-yourselves-cancer-somewhere-else-please/104516/2 "2002-04-19T13:57:42Z")
Smoking on the terrace is illegal? How so? ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-and-give-yourselves-cancer-somewhere-else-please/104516/3 "2002-04-19T14:14:28Z")
Mebbe he goes to one of those right wing Christian colleges, where smokin’ and drinkin’ and dancin’ are forbidden by the Flaming Sword of Jesus. ---
**Author:** ![Witch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/258eb7/32.png) [@Witch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Witch)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-and-give-yourselves-cancer-somewhere-else-please/104516/4 "2002-04-19T14:16:24Z")
You sound like my mother. We ignore her. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-and-give-yourselves-cancer-somewhere-else-please/104516/5 "2002-04-19T14:20:06Z")
I am guessing he is talking about the fire escape. My junior year, I lived on the airshaft. People used to do all sorts of stupid shit. Smoking, tossing down beer bottles, visiting neighbors…even singing. I will never forget one night, around 2am, when this one girl thought it might be a good idea to practice her arpeggios out an open shaft window. The crowd’s response was less than overwhelming. “MOOOOO!” “Shut the fuck up, bitch!” “No opera in the shaft!” I especially loved the last remark. I never listened to _Don Giovanni_ quite the same way again. And I am glad you withdrew the Laetitia Casta remark. Or I would have had to hurt you. ---
**Author:** ![tiny\_ham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@tiny\_ham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiny_ham)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-and-give-yourselves-cancer-somewhere-else-please/104516/6 "2002-04-19T14:35:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ukulele Ike \* > \*\*Mebbe he goes to one of those right wing Christian colleges, where smokin’ and drinkin’ and dancin’ are forbidden by the Flaming Sword of Jesus. \*\* Or…putting casual snipes at Christianity aside, it’s possible the dorm is a no-smoking building, as was mine at Bowling Green State University. j ---
**Author:** ![Bandanaman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ab097/32.png) [@Bandanaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bandanaman)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-and-give-yourselves-cancer-somewhere-else-please/104516/7 "2002-04-19T14:41:51Z")
Are they smoking cigs, or pot? ---
**Author:** ![Nightsong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nightsong/32/3083_2.png) [@Nightsong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightsong)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-and-give-yourselves-cancer-somewhere-else-please/104516/8 "2002-04-19T14:50:26Z")
Does it matter what they’re smoking, if it’s a no-smoking building? (Or smoking-restricted, and the terrances are part of the ‘off limits for smoking’ zone?) I don’t mind if people smoke: if they are aware of what they’re doing to themselves, fine. Their life to do with as they please, so long as they don’t infringe on the rights (or life) of others, and they don’t litter. * * * \<\< Semester’s almost over, whoo-hooo! \>\> ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-and-give-yourselves-cancer-somewhere-else-please/104516/9 "2002-04-19T15:06:45Z")
What _I_ object to is people who smoke in the metro. They have them at my station a lot since it’s near a high school. Mostly it’s in the kiosk (street-level access building), but sometimes you see someone smoking on the platform. Now, there are no-smoking signs EVERY TEN METRES. CLUE THE FUCK IN. At least they sometimes get caught and have to shell out $100. ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-and-give-yourselves-cancer-somewhere-else-please/104516/10 "2002-04-19T15:07:52Z")
I’ve lived in a few ‘non smoking’ buildings, and the terrace/veranda type areas were the designated smoking areas. That’s why they put the ASH TRAYS there. So I’d go out onto the Lothrop veranda, the one with the stone benches and the great big ASH TRAY in the middle, and smoke. Granted if I was out there at 2 am I was tryin to be quiet so people on the 3rd floor (no rooms on the 1st and 2nd) could sleep or whatever, but I woulda been right pissed if someone had decided to come rant at me that smoking was illegal out there. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-and-give-yourselves-cancer-somewhere-else-please/104516/11 "2002-04-19T15:12:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by catsix \* > \*\*Smoking on the terrace is illegal? > > How so? \*\* I doubt it was technically illegal, but smoking was banned by the university even on the terrace (yes, the terrace/porch NOT the fire escape) outside my dorm (which had smoking and non-smoking floors) at Northwestern. So it’s not just some Christian University thing, ya know… ---
**Author:** ![Bandanaman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ab097/32.png) [@Bandanaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bandanaman)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-and-give-yourselves-cancer-somewhere-else-please/104516/12 "2002-04-19T15:20:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Nightsong \* > \*\*Does it matter what they’re smoking, if it’s a no-smoking building? \*\* The reason I asked was to clarify the legality of it, as was earlier mentioned. Pot’s still illegal, isn’t it? My office is located right next to the exit for the rear patio, where the addicts that work here go to get their fix. Fine, but dammit, they always come in, exhaling that last breath as they enter the building, stinking the place up. Fuckwads. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-and-give-yourselves-cancer-somewhere-else-please/104516/13 "2002-04-19T15:28:55Z")
I believe there’s some sort of university regulation stating that no smoking is allowed within so many feet of a building. Or maybe I’m misconstruing some ordnance or something. It wouldn’t be the first time. ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-and-give-yourselves-cancer-somewhere-else-please/104516/14 "2002-04-19T15:39:18Z")
If you look out there and see an ashtray or a cigarette urn, then it’s probably not designated a No Smoking area. If you see signs that say No Smoking, then you’re within your rights to bust them for the smoking. If it’s noise, there are noise ordinances everywhere, which also means you’re within your rights. But if they’re in a smoking area, smoking quietly, even at 2 am, and the terrace is a part of the building they also reside in, I don’t know how much luck you’ll have convincing the cops that people can’t be out on their own terrace smoking next to an ash tray. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-and-give-yourselves-cancer-somewhere-else-please/104516/15 "2002-04-19T15:39:27Z")
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.) ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-and-give-yourselves-cancer-somewhere-else-please/104516/16 "2002-04-19T15:58:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by catsix \* > \*\*If you look out there and see an ashtray or a cigarette urn, then it’s probably not designated a No Smoking area. > > If you see signs that say No Smoking, then you’re within your rights to bust them for the smoking. > \*\* No ashtray. No sign, but the RA confirmed it’s not a smoking area. I also remember a sign warning people not to smoke on a similar terrace in a different building. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-and-give-yourselves-cancer-somewhere-else-please/104516/17 "2002-04-19T16:17:18Z")
Well, this IS actually kinda of a problem, but it’s a problem you can do NOTHING about. My Mom has severe bronchial asthma, and the guy who lives right below her smokes—her whole apartment fills up with his smoke, but she realizes all she can do is open the windows and put the fan on. The white-trash hillbillies who live below me sit out in the yard and smoke, and it drifts right up into my living-room window something awful—but again, I’m hardly going to tell them not to smoke in their own backyard! it’s just one of those annoyances that comes from living around other people. Other than becoming Ted Kaczynski, there’s not much to be done. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-and-give-yourselves-cancer-somewhere-else-please/104516/18 "2002-04-19T16:18:40Z")
“Kinda of a problem” . . . Gotcha ya! ---
**Author:** ![Quintas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/48db29/32.png) [@Quintas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quintas)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-and-give-yourselves-cancer-somewhere-else-please/104516/19 "2002-04-19T16:31:18Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by Nightsong \* I don’t mind if people smoke: if they are aware of what they’re doing to themselves, fine. Their life to do with as they please, so long as they don’t infringe on the rights (or life) of others, and they don’t litter. Infringe on your life? A little 2nd hand smoke is not gonna give you cancer. I hate it when people get a whiff of smoke and start acting like you just sprayed them with tear gas. whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-and-give-yourselves-cancer-somewhere-else-please/104516/20 "2002-04-19T16:36:34Z")
Quintas, It’s got nothing to do with 2nd hand anything, I just can’t stand the smell at _2 or 3 in the goddamned morning_!!! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-and-give-yourselves-cancer-somewhere-else-please/104516.md?page=2)