Re: Smoking on the field

[Corun MacAnndra <corun@access.digex.net>]

Poster: Corun MacAnndra <corun@access.digex.net>

I know some cigarette smokers who are very polite when it comes to thinking
about the people around them or the immediate environment in general. To
whit, when outside they will take the extra moment to field strip their butts.

Now that you're done laughing....what this means is they roll the cigarette
butt so that the remaining tobacco falls out onto the ground. Being organic
and in miniscule quantity, there is nothing wrong with this, i.e. it's not
"littering" per se (especially if it's the bare ground or some garden plot
or suchlike). The remaining paper and filter (not being organic as such) are
disposed of in the nearest trash can, or, barring the presence of one, put
in their pocket or cigarette pack or wherever on their person to throw away
later. They don't simply drop their butts on the ground and leave them,
sometimes not even bothering to put them out. Unfortunately it has been my
experience that this is a minor percentage of all cigarette smokers The
majority act in the latter manner, and indiscriminantly drop butts on the
ground, throw them out of car windows (so that they bounce off your
windshield or get sucked into your open window or sunroof), and empty their
ashtrays (if they use them at all) in parking lots). The majority of
cigarette smokers (cigar and pipes smokers do things differently due to the
nature of cigars and pipes) are not merely discourteous, but completely
inconsiderate. They don't think of what they're doing because it is such an
ingrained habit, but look at the ground sometime as you're walking along a
street or through a parking lot. You'll find that of all the odd bits of
flotsam that end up on the ground, cigarette butts make up a good third of
the total.

Ok, this is a personal rant, but it's something that has bothered me for a
long time, and this is really the first chance I've had to address a large
segment of smokers (or even one, since confronting the offending total
stranger on the street can get you in big trouble ;-). My point here is that
the SCA is founded on the concepts of Honour, Courtesy and Chivalry. Without
some consideration, it's hard to achieve the second and thereby the third of
those tenets. Please, good gentles, if you smoke cigarettes at all, be more
aware of your surroundings, whether you're in an SCA or a mundane setting.
If we're not going to hold to these tenets mundanely, then how can we within
the Society?

In service,
Corun

===============================================================================
   Corun MacAnndra   |			They also serve
 Dark Horde by birth |		     who only lurk and pry
   Moritu by choice  |					Dark Horde Proverb

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