Tonight I read the sign at the dartmouth bridge bus stop, as I do every time I am there: NO SMOKING, fines up to $1000… blah blah blah. Really? Has anybody ever been fined for this? Why make laws to supposedly crack down on public smoking and then never ever do anything about them? Every day I am there I have to live with say 15-20 people lighting one up. If we are going to have a law let’s friggin enforce it. To top it all off on Saturday there was a pregnant lady in a white with blue and black striped jacket smoking… Really? Really? Do you not know how bad that is for your baby? Like do you care at all about the baby in your stomach? Just tired of standing at a smoky bus stop with really stupid, inconsiderate smokers… it just makes me feel sick… —Blackened Lungs/Upset Stomach
This article appears in Nov 3-9, 2011.
Pregnant smokers, with all we know these days should have their overies removed. Selfish pricks.
TTFN, no need to get upset, perhaps you should sit this one out.
First of all you’re right, it is a stupid law. It is open space not an enclosed one.
Second, babies develop in the womb, not the stomach, learn some anatomy.
Thirdly, millions of babies have been born over the centuries to mothers who smoke and their are born with all the parts and healthy and grow up to be healthy and not some sort of mutant.
Metro Transit should enforce those rules. Then riders will stop using that shitty service and buy cars to smoke in.
But lighting up a Cig always makes the bus come sooner.
Nobody, including a lot of bus drivers, obeys these signs. Smokers believe they have the right to light up anywhere. Kind of pointless having signs there if they are disregarded.
As it is a public space the air should be of the same quality for everyone. As someone who suffers from a respiratory illness, it compromises my health to have to breathe in all that ciggie smoke at the terminal. My right to life will always exceed that of a smoker’s to pollute the air I need to breathe. I don’t see why -especially at the bridge terminal- smokers can’t just step away from the platform to smoke, except that their SET (nod to TJ)attitude prevents them from doing so. Note to MT: either enforce the law or get rid of the signs.
Do you know how toxic diesel exhaust is?
do you have any idea how much mercury & other toxins are produced each year by N.S. Powers coal fired electrical plants ?
THen look at the American coal fired plants…then check out China’s.
Every person alive on this planet smoking cigarettes all the time we are awake, won’t put the pollution into the atmosphere that Auto’s & coal fired power plants, stell manufacturing plants, oil refineries, do in 1 hour…..You are PROTESTING THE WRONG THING …
You brainwashed member of the sheeple herd.
And yet you inhale all those diesel fumes generated by all those large buses.
BTW Self-entitled twat is my saying TYVM. LOL.
I don’t think the OB was implying that the law itself is stupid, just The fact that it’s not enforced IS. I have to agree. They claim that nationally, smoking is down 17%. I think I found them though, all hanging out at this bus terminal! I routinely take the bus to and from work, (not everyday but on a moderate basis) and by the nature of where I live and where I work, I have to stop at this same terminal. Nothing disgusts me more than walking through a wall of smoke the minute I walk off the bus. Then you get these people I like to call the roving smokers. They like to light up and then proceed to do laps or pace back and forth, all the while sucking on their cancer stick and then blowing it out with no regard for anyone around them. You can move to another spot but it makes no difference because they catch up to you. For the record, I don’t hate smokers, (I have friends and family who are smokers), I hate INCONSIDERATE smokers and there seems to be a fucking bumper crop of them here in this city.
If you want to get technical, it’s not an open space. There are 2 permanent enclosed public structures there, (shelters), and I think this is the loophole that permits the law to apply to the bus stop. (No smoking within “X” metres of public building/structure. -that’s my guess, anyway). But what good is it to have a law if it’s never enforced? Metro transit doesn’t seem to give a shit either because they regularly have a supervisor at this site and nothing is ever said or done. They should make a separate designated smoking area. Hopefully, the new terminal will make allowances for this so that those of us who don’t smoke don’t have to breathe that shit in.
And it likely will not change at the new transit terminal being built near that location either. They should start cracking down on the smoking and other negative issues right from the start, and continue policing it. Also, would not hurt for transit and the city to declare those areas for use of transit passengers only like they do with transit terminals in many other cities. And not just let them be used as short cuts, or hangouts. Of course that takes staff etc. Does not cut out all problems, but does lessen them in the long run.
But at least start with the smoking, especially in the shelter areas.
That’s funny. I did not see ANY “No Diesel Fumes” signs anywhere to be disregarded so please explain your point BT and More.
I am just as opposed to fossil fuel fume polluting as any other kind but as long as Big Oil is running the show what choice does any of us have -as opposed to inconsiderate smokers who DO have the choice to step away before sparking up.
I’m a smoker and I usually go over by the bank to have my smoke since there aren’t as many people there and no signs. It irritates me as a considerate smoker to see smokers that just don’t care.
I smoke, it’s my choice, but it doesn’t make it okay to be inconsiderate to others and smoke wherever I want.
it’s interesting how pregnancy and smoking are apparently a lethal combination, yet it’s not illegal to smoke while pregnant.
Not saying.. just saying.. nome’saying?
More and Bro Tim.
They’ll be there anyway. She’s just trying to reduce as many toxins as possible in her own self-righteous way.
And yes. It’s a she.
they will go only when they build an elevated platform so that smokers don’t get mowed down by the traffic. Oh, it should have an escalator as well… lung capacity not being what it used to for the stairs…
It’s ok (legal) for smokers to endanger their own lives by smoking in an open space but mandating they play human frogger to get a quick puff is a little much.
and MAN ALIVE, women can be crazy when they’re preggers…
resorting to cannibalism of other’s children!
And I’m guessing since she ate the baby, she DOESN’T care about it….
OK, I am a smoker, and I agree with this bitch (on principle). They could start with fining the inspectors and drivers to set an example, but of course, that will never happen, so why should some 19 year old kid be worried about puffing away right off the bus?
I have a mini-ashtray on my keychain, I stand the 14m away from doors and air intakes, I try not to stand right where people coming into a door have to walk through my cloud of smoke, and when I am at a public bus terminal, I walk AWAY from the actual spot where I could be fined. Like over toward the Scotiabank at the Dartmouth Terminal.
And yet, as soon as someone sees a pack of smokes, I get lumped in with all the asshats like the OB is talking about…
Yes I *choose* to smoke, but I also *choose* to be responsible about my butts and my offal. Maybe if more smokers took 5 seconds instead of being inconsiderate, we could all live together in relative harmony (albeit us smokers for a shorter time! HA!)
The point is on the top of your & anyone else’s head who doesn’t get the second hand smoke bullshit law.
If that smoke is sooo dangerous & we all have to ‘protected’ by laws (what a fucking misuse of law making policy IMO) then there should be laws…REAL FUCKING laws that do something to protect us from REAL DANGER.
From exhaust fumes, the millions of tons of mercury being put into our atmosphere by coal fried power plants, Oil refineries etc.
Since there are none.
Then why would anyone with a brain bother respecting such a stupid law.
Would you only wear 1 shoe when you went out if it was the Law, Ocean chick ?
I know I wouldn’t obey it.
Stupid laws don’t deserve to be obeyed & when they serve no protective use for every citizen then not only should they not be obeyed, those that passed them in the first place should be held accountable & maybe have their positions on the Gov board that inacts such dumb legislation revoked for all time.
FYI…. Something I learned from my Mum.
Just because everyone else is diving head first off the MacDonald Bridge, into Dockyard for fun…doesn’t mean I have to as well.
FINE.. be uncool… you square.
WHEEEEEEEEEEE
Because that “stupid” law isn’t obeyed, More, I am at risk of asthma attacks and elevated heart rate. That is “real danger” to me. How is that right? Your opinion of the validity of that law doesn’t change the risk to my health. Not polluting with 2nd hand tobacco smoke is a change that is easy for anyone to make. Unlike dependence upon Big Oil. What do you plan to do to change global fossil fuel pollution? You are trying to use two wrongs to make a right but that math will never add up no matter how you try to justify it.
@Blackened Lungs/Upset Stomach:
I’d like to look at the issue for a CKDU radio story.
Let me know if you’d like to be involved in the story. You seem like a good interview.
Thanks!
Laura
laurabain11@gmail.com
ya, the least those ignorant fucks can do is swallow the smoke….
or trap it in a balloon and dispose of it later.
If you have such a grievous allergy…
shouldn’t you be wearing some form of protective mask?
You know, In the event the planet full of dicks and morons end up acting like dicks and morons….
Ocean chick…for the 1/2 of a second it takes to walk by a smoker, hold your breath.
I also suffer from asthma..big fucking deal.
I agree with limits in enclosed spaces, but with all the toxins pumped constantly into the atmosphere, a smoker , smoking outside is the least of your or my asthma problem !
Walk by them? I’m usually surrounded by them from one end of the platform to the other! What has your asthma got to do with mine?
you’re a brave soul laura, welcome to the jungle http://images.cheezburger.com/completestor…
I’m not a smoker and I find it absolutely ABSURD that they would restrictions on smoking outside. Why can’t people just fucking live and let live. Everyone has to complain about something!
They should install smoke alarms at these busstops with an ear-piercing beeping everytime somebody lights up. The non-smokers may have worry about deafness more than second-hand smoke though. Strike that idea.
Laws are made for the rights of all, not the pleasure or displeasure of a few. There will always be someone who dislikes a thing, is even physically affected by a thing, that doesn’t mean that a law should be made about it. This is what is happening with these more and more ridiculous smoking laws. And everyone can hate smokers, its easy to hate smokers because, apparently, they’re constantly puffing in your face. There are far worse things than a little smoke in your eye, and we should all be worried about this kind of social criticism. Smoking outside isn’t wrong Ocean Chick, you just don’t like it.
We can argue about laws and who has more rights, smokers or non smokers and what’s right and what’s wrong, until we’re blue in the face. The bottom line is, smoking is pointless. Full stop. Can anyone, smoker or non, please explain to me what benefits their are to smoking? Anyone? (And before anyone starts down the “revenue-through-taxes” road, let me stop you right there. I’m talking about physical benefits)
The fact is, it has no benefits. No one NEEDS to smoke. You don’t NEED nicotine to survive. You don’t NEED to inhale a burning substance into your lungs in order to live. But we ALL NEED to breathe. And, More, I can hear you already saying “What about pollution? What about car exhausts and coal fired generators spewing crap into the atmosphere? Why are we not trying to impose more restrictions on them?” and I totally agree with you. All valid points for sure. Except for one difference…smoking is pointless and serves no purpose, thus making it the more logical and easier target. I agree that automobiles spew out more crap than smoking ever could but, like it or not, automobiles serve a purpose. Until they release the relatively new technology improving, or in some cases, eliminating the internal combustion engine, on a more consistent basis and at a cheaper price, then I’m afraid we’re stuck with the exhaust fumes a little longer. They STILL serve a purpose. The same for coal fired power plants and oil refineries. Yes, they are some of the worst polluters on the planet and I agree with you, More that there should be more restrictive laws in place that deal with this, but the fact of the matter remains that they both still serve a purpose. Smoking does not. It doesn’t make you look cool or chic and it sure as hell does nothing for your health. I’ve heard that it may supress your appetite slightly but, so does drinking water. And if it’s just the head rush you’re after, try sitting down, stick your head between your knees, hold your breath for like 20 seconds, then jump up really fast in one fluid movement. Same affect with no smoke AND it’s free.
Hehe, summed everything up nicely Avast0 :D. When I was walking home yesterday, I was stuck behind some bitch who was smoking. Which happens all the time so whatever, but she would take one puff per BLOCK for fuck sakes. Like, she obviously only smoked for the “look”. What a god damn waste. Smoke the whole thing, don’t linger with it. Then some leathery poodle woman with too much perfume walked by me, looked me in the eye and blew smoke right in my face. Fuck those bitches!
I stand down at the very end of the terminal by Wyse Road to smoke – as far as I’m concerned that is as far away from others I can be while having one, if I have a long wait at the bus stop. If that bothers people, I’m sorry, but there isn’t much I’m going to do beyond what I do naturally, thinking of others…
And again, let me re-iterate, I don’t hate smokers, as I have family and friends that smoke regularly. I don’t like INCONSIDERATE smokers. Thank you to those smokers, like Dartmouthy and Gidget and the others that have the common courtesy to at least try minimize the effects of their smoking on others by moving to a less crowded part of the terminal. I, for one, sincerely appreciate it.
“leathery poodle women” haha, the perfume would bother me more
PG, you got that right. I’d rather smell a skinky old stogie than the majority of perfumes and colognes out there. Users forget they’re only supposed to use a dab, not the damn bottle. And What the fuck is this axe crap, it’s got to be the worst. The power of advertisement. I swear people would use skunk (and I think they do) if it was on TV enough.
Axe (and the other ‘body sprays’) are nice…
so long as you treat them like they cost $800 a can.
as minimal a spritz as you possibly can is all you ever need.
anything more and you’ll fill the whole room with the overpowering smell….
a fact many idiots have yet to realize.
I often wonder who would win if odor free fabreeze and a can of axe faced off….
though I don’t have the nasal capacity or fortitude to try…
Avast, there’s a ton of things that you don’t need to survive that you want and/or use every day. I personally think that the smokers like to smoke because of the breaks they can claim from work.
The fresh smoke smell is pleasant too… though the grimy reek of after-smoke is not so nice IMO.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtwh3nQP5Uo
Bleeeh I hate the smell of all forms of smoke. I hate how it gets stuck in my hair and remains there. Then the next morning when I shower, my bathroom reeks of smoke. My pillow smells like smoke, my coat and clothes. So you can see how smoking can be a bit irritating to those of us who aren’t immune to terrible smells. Although I would choose to smell smoke over smoke+perfume ANY FUCKING DAY. Lawwwd that is the worst combo. It’s like some people think perfume will cover up the smell of smoke. It won’t! Nothing will, so stop trying and face the fact that you smell like cat shit/ash tray/green bin to the majority of the population.
After smoking bans were put into place in bars, they started (as well as clubs, festivals) to realized that cigarette smoke was covering up other kinds of nasty smells like stale beer and BO. Last year’s Oktoberfest in Munich put some kind of crazy chemical into the floorboards and US clubs have started pumping chemicals scents into the dance space to cover the smells.
We’ve become such a sanitized culture that we’ve surrounded ourselves with wacky chemicals (including febreze and those spritzing household scent things) and yet are aghast at the smell of smoke. The world smells, it just does.
lol @ green bin
“Parfume de Ecologique – essence de putrides, essence de la pourriture – ‘Eau d’ Bacs Verts”
Yeah because the chemicals in cigarettes are much better…
My favorite is when the security guards are smoking and bumming smokes:)
I’m not a smoker but I LOVE LOVE LOVE the smell of smoke embedded in leather. I could just get lost in it! lol
i like the smell of pipe tobacco