This article appears in Dec 6-12, 2007.
Get the connection?
To the owners and operations of the business on the corner of South and Barrington. You guys must open up at about 830am. I know this because the old crank and his slo-mo’ sidekick sit in the bus shelter EVERY MORNING smoking cigarette after cigarette (s
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Did you ask them to leave the shelter to smoke? Chances are no. Those people you see probably belong to Connections Club house, a non-profit organization that assists mentally handicaped adults adapt from the hospital to civilian life. While that does not excuse their behaviour, simply asking them to step outside when they smoke will alleviate the issue.BTW, their money helps pay for the shelter as well.
I do agree with Leafs Fan. Asking these people to step outside of the shelter, (if you already haven’t) would be the easiest way to solve this problem. But where thier money helps pay for the bus shelter also, Leafs Fan, it’s still a BUS shelter that says in plain english ‘NO SMOKING’ right along the side. I’d be willing to bet that these rules apply to all..weather you pay taxes or not.
Leafs Fan? I have asked. Politely, in fact. And got a belligerent “I was here first” in response. Now I get dirty looks from the old crank who sits there staring at me the entire time I am waiting for the bus. And if by “their money” you mean the social assistance the old guy says should “come with a carton of smokes” then yes, he pays for it too.
I used that bus stop daily for almost 4 years and complained numerous times to the management at Connections Club about their clients smoking in the shelter, hoping they’d do something about it but no way. I often pointed out the no smoking signs to people who insisted on lighting up while I waited for the bus and most were kind enough to move out of the shelter but one lady (who rocks back and forth at a high rate of speed) felt the need to curse me out on several occasions when I asked her to butt out or move along. As far as Connections Club management, they should provide their clients with a smoking spot on their own property and deal with those who walk out the front door and into the bus shelter to light up.