I have had an aversion to smoking and smokers for the better part of 30 years now, so I never tried nor did I want to and absolutely cannot stand the habit. Because of this, I think I truly do not understand many smokers' habits, and want to ask a few questions of smokers here.

(1) When driving, why do you flick your ash and butts out the window of your car? Do you see that as different from littering, and if so, why is that?

(2) Repeatedly I find people in front of the hospital across the street smoking in the no smoking area at the main entrance. Why is that? There are "No Smoking" signs all over the place. Is it that they can't read, don't care, are openly contemtuous?

(3) I hear about a "right" to smoke. What are your views on the boundaries of rights as far as someone's personal behavior and the impact it has on those around you?

1) most people flick the butts out the window because it smells and will ruin the "cleanliness" of the vehicle.

2) It's raining or its too sunny and they probably want to be in the shade or out of the rain.

3) This is tricky as it includes multiple issues.

- If someone wants to ruin their body, can one expect others to pay for possible medical attention that most likely will be needed.
- It's a legal product even though its known to be bad for you, if its so deadly, why is it still allowed
- You can't legislate proper behavior. Image what would come about if you tried to outlaw stupidity.

1) Most people flick the butts out the window because it smells and will ruin the "cleanliness" of the vehicle.
But, the person who smokes gathers the smoke smell on themselves and the vehicle. And, it stays there, and is very hard to clean out. People who flick butts out windows risk those (still lit) butts flying into other cars and burning those cars and their occupants. But, they don't care, because "they have the right to use a legal product."

2)....Is it that they can't read, don't care, are openly contemptuous?
Yes to the last two, maybe the first one as well. People who smoke now feel like they're an oppressed class, despite their filthy habit being unchecked for hundreds of years. Now, limitations are being out on it, and they can't handle it, so they say "Smoking is legal, and I'll do it where I d*mn well please!"

>(1) When driving, why do you flick your ash and >butts out the window of your car? Do you see >that as different from littering, and if so, why >is that?

Ashes would not be littering as they are an instantaneously biodegradable substance, but cigarette butts definitely are littering. However, it is a generalization to say that *all* people who smoke do this, as the initial post here seemed to imply.

If the OP asked "Why do you flick...?" he would be implying that all smokers do. But what he asked (and what you quoted him asking) was "Do you flick...?" which includes the assumption that maybe you don't flick. That in turn presupposes that he does not assume that *all* smokers flick

Cigarette butts definitely are littering.
Not only that, but they're deadly to birds, who mistake the butts for food, and die from either choking on them, or the bloody butts staying in their stomach, unable to be passed.

Actually, I'm reading the top post and my quote of it as "Why do you flick"

oh, well I don't smoke so I was just analyzing the behavior. sorry...

it is a generalization to say that *all* people who smoke do this, as the initial post here seemed to imply.

Todd, your point is well-taken; on re-reading, I do seem to imply that all smokers do that, rather than my original intent which was to ask smokers who do use the window rather than the ashtray what motivates them to make that particular choice.

My apologies for the lack of clarity!

Well, I remember my dad always used to use the cars ashtrays, anyway.

In the most recent new episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm, Larry David's (TV) wife Cheryl is apparently trying for sainthood, so she adopts a family displaced by a hurricane. (Without asking Larry, BTW.) The family head smokes, and lights up in Larry and Cheryl's home without asking if its OK. When Larry tells her not to smoke, she puts the butt out in Larry's cake that he's only half finished. Larry throws the cake and butt in the trash, which starts smoldering. Since Larry did his usual dumb stunt earlier on (in this case trashing the smoke detector) the house of course catches fire. So, at the end of the episode, both the Davids and the family they took in are now displaced.
That episode reinforced my attitude about smokers - that they'll smoke anywhere, whether it's permitted or not.
And, maybe Larry David's TV life will more closely resemble his real life. Namely that Mr. David is divorcing his real wife. So, is a divorce in the CYE storyline?

More and more new cars do not have ashtrays. I can't see how a person can smoke and drive.

Re: Smoking and driving. My Step-Father would do that all the time. I guess it's not much harder than dring a soda or coffee and driving.

More and more new cars do not have ashtrays. - Adam Bomb

So now the smoker'll just throw their butts out the car windows. That's not going to be a big deal to them. It won't stop them from smoking their cancer sticks.

I must confess to having been a smoker. I also confess to doing so occasionally (albeit rarely) to this day. I'm slowly shaking this old habit. I was also raised to be considerate of others. I always smoked in moments of solitude. If I come home late, I don't make a lot of noise if someone's asleep (i.e., gently closing doors, etc.). Let sleeping dogs lie, and all that. It always used to drive me crazy when smokers would throw their butts on the ground. At a campsite once, I couldn't believe how many butts were lying in the grass, glistening with dew in the morning light. I spent my morning coffee time cleaning them up and later trying to gently and diplomatically lecture people about doing that. To me, it's no different than cups and food wrappers tossed out of the car to decorate the landscape. When I've gone outside to have a smoke, I always tucked the butt in my pocket (after squishing out the embers, of course!) and disposed of it properly later. Why litter when it's so easy to avoid it with a little consideration?

I've known too many smokers who would always vigorously defend their right to smoke. Frankly, I agreed with the basic core of their argument (even before I smoked myself), but where I parted company with them is with their insistence in 'anywhere, anytime' arguments. For example, I'm allergic to hairspray (specifically, the acrylates in them). I knew a girl once who sprayed her hair in the car with me! She had no idea, and she felt bad while I sneezed and fought a runny nose on the trip. I just can't see subjecting someone to smoke in a confined environment, of all places. (I must admit, though, I'm having trouble finding a dashboard magnet for the car with a can of hairspray with a red slash through it!)

In a strange way, I'm, grateful that I'm old enough to remember smoking being allowed on planes and trains, being that it was a good "hands on" experience at "thinking before you do". I smoked at the time, and even I couldn't stand it. Even though smoking is not a good habit, there's no reason to develop an even worse habit by making others deal with the aftermath.

I don't blare loud music in the night, that's what headphones are for. There's no reason to throw cigarette butts around like confetti at a wedding. That's what trash cans are for.

As to the original question on this site, no, I didn't flick ashes and butts out the car window. When I was a kid, my brother started a nice fire in his back seat doing that. The easiest thing to do is not to smoke in the car. I don't have superior rights to others, so I cannot enforce my beliefs on them, and would not consider doing so. However, I would ask a woman to spray her hair outside of my presence, but fortunately, that doesn't come up too much. But I find the runny-nose-watery-eyes effect on me seems similar to the effects I've seen on non-smokers subjected to smoke, so I use that as a barometer of behavior. I don't dislike smokers, necessarily, as that's simply a habit they have. It's like alcohol: it depends how they self-regulate their habits. It's often a useful window into the content of their characters. You can almost see the needle on an imaginary gauge dipping either into the considerate/selfish zone! Very useful!

Benn wrote above: So now the smoker'll just throw their butts out the car windows.
The filthy, lit butts have to land somewhere. So, if someone filcks a lit butt out a car window, the odds are good that it will land in someone else's car. Worst case scenario: The butt will either hit someone and burn them, or land on the car seat and cause the seat to go on fire.

A new cigarette tax takes effect in New York today. It adds another $1.25 to the price of a pack, making the total cost over $8 per pack. Just think of what a person can buy, if he/she smokes a pack a day, quits cold turkey, and saves up the money he/she is not spending on the smokes. A new watch, new clothes, an HDTV, CDs, DVDs, the list is endless.

Here's a page from Billy Ingram's "TV Party" site about cigarette commercials. It's amazing that they tried to sell that fetid garbage on TV, but I'm old enough to remember cigarette commercials. I'm sure even our beloved Star Trek had its share of cigarette commercials per hour. What a joke that the cigarette makers tried to sell their brands on the basis of flavor. Yecch.

I can't believe the animated ones like The Flintstones selling Winstons. I had seen that clip before but it's still pretty amazing to see that, for someone who was born in 1980