Smokers

Why is it that some smokers insist on flicking their used up butts in the street or on the sidewalk, despite the easy availability of ashtrays? I will vote for the presidential candidate who signs a bill making it a capital offense (that means the death penalty) to throw cigarettes on the ground. Perhaps it’s a rebellion against the pervasive smoking bans that have driven smokers out of any building but their own homes. I can see some of them mumbling under their breath, “Those S.O.B.’s won’t let me smoke in the bar, I know what I’ll do, I’ll throw my butt in the street! Yeah! Stick it to the man!” I used to share a duplex with a guy who smoked out on his front steps and flicked the butts out onto the driveway and lawn. He stopped after I regularly raked and swept them off my side and dumped them in front of his door. Back when I was in high school I worked in a gas station. People would habitually dump their entire car ashtray on the ground. Sneaky little punks that we were, my co-workers and I would sweep them up and dump them in the back seat when the customer went in to buy more cigarettes. I guess the best thing that can be said about flicking butts on the street is that it’s better than dogs crapping on the street. Or on your lawn.