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02 June 2006

Cigarette etiquette question. My (totally annoying) neighbors don't smoke in their own apartment. They were coming out into the main building hallway, outside their front door, to smoke [More:]-- which is directly outside *my* front door, which meant their (horrible, smelly, cheap) cigarettes were stinking up my apartment. After I got tired of always asking them to move (I work from home, so I'm pretty much always here to get annoyed at things like that), I complained to the landlord and he declared a no-smoking policy in the common areas of the building. (We actually are allowed to smoke in the apartments.)

So now the neighbors go across the street and smoke on someone else's stoop, beneath many many many windows. And I think this is tacky, since they're now subjecting other people to their awful cheap cigarettes, but then I realized that if urban smokers have to avoid all residential windows when smoking, there's probably no place they could smoke.

So: Smokers, do you pay attention to whether you're outside someone's window when you're smoking? Is this something you worry/think about?
Not ordinarily, but if someone politely told me it was bothering them, I'd apologize and move.
posted by jonmc 02 June | 12:25
What jon said. I would like to note, however, that I would never smoke in an enclosed hallway not in a bar.
posted by dame 02 June | 12:29
Ditto those two. But I should add that I rarely, if ever, smoke in public. Mostly just sneak a few puffs on the porch during moments of stress.
posted by jrossi4r 02 June | 12:33
I'm usually aware of open windows, and I try to get so the wind isn't blowing it into people's living spaces. But I also wouldn't smoke in a hallway. That's really rude.
posted by cmonkey 02 June | 12:35
It's kinda a screwy hallway. The front door is just a gate, so it kind of feels "outside," even though the stairs are carpeted... it's very California.

But it does not allow much flow-through of air.

Part of my issue here is that they're just horribly annoying people -- screaming fights in which they're swearing and throwing things, music blasting, LOUD phone calls about medical problems conducted outside their apartment (and right in front of mine). I've been in the midst of conference calls for work when the woman is standing directly outside my door shrieking at her son about shitting her bed because of her methadone.

They're so inconsiderate and well, stupid, in general that I'm inclined to see everything they do as further evidence of that.

Which makes me an elitist snob in many ways, because I understand that their main problem is that they're poor, but... they still annoy. Greatly.

The downside of being in the first waves of gentrification.... :-)
posted by occhiblu 02 June | 12:38
Well poor people generally are annoying. That's why people who can afford to, move away from them.

(Seriously, I'm about as working class as they come but some of the people I've lived next door to in my time.... Jeesh)
posted by dodgygeezer 02 June | 13:02
I think inconsiderate people will find ways to be inconsiderate, regardless of whether it's smoking or talking loud. Some people are just like that. I'm not sure you can indict tobacco here, per se.

posted by Rhomboid 02 June | 13:04
Oh, I'm not blaming the smoking for the stupid behavior. I'm just trying to figure out if my righteous indignation about their smoking outside other people's windows is totally irrational, or if I'm allowed to add it to my list :-)
posted by occhiblu 02 June | 13:19
Remind me to blow smoke in your face next time I see you, occhiblu.

I smoke in the courtyard of my apartment complex, trying to stay away from anyone else's windows. Given that I can't smoke inside my own apartment, I'm not sure exactly where else I'm supposed to smoke, especially since my building has windows and balconies right up against the sidewalk outside. I also toss all my butts into a little plastic take-out container next to my balcony door. On the other hand, the idiot living across the courtyard from me smokes on his balcony, then litters the courtyard with his butts. I bet my neighbors all think those were my butts.
posted by DaShiv 02 June | 13:19
I was seriously the worst offender for inconsiderate smoking when I did smoke. I never did it often enough to get the hang of wind direction or proper timing for exhalations. I tried to be good about it, but failed about as often as I succeeded. I do realize it's a bit of an art form.

Looking at these people across the street, I realize it's more that I'm just annoyed when they leave their apartment. Go back inside, annoying people! Keep your doors and windows closed! Also, YOU CAN SMOKE INSIDE.
posted by occhiblu 02 June | 13:29
This is why god makes fire extinguishers. Be considerate: only use the CO2 type (BC-rated) rather than the water or powder ones. The powder ones work great, but the powder gets everywhere.
posted by bonehead 02 June | 13:40
I generally avoid children and people wheeling oxygen tanks, but that's about it. If you asked nicely, I'd move or put it out.
posted by trondant 02 June | 14:16
/me sets bonehead on fire, waits, waits some more, hoses him with a powder fire extinguisher
posted by trondant 02 June | 14:17
Go, tap them on the sholder, tell them it's rude, etc.
Await torrent of abuse "I fuck you mom" etc.
This will not be resolved
posted by pieisexactlythree 02 June | 15:06
Well, no, I moved them away from my apartment (I started politely, but how many times can you say, "Please don't smoke right in front of my apartment; the smell is coming right in" before it sounds rude regardless of how nice you're being?). Now I'm annoyed on other people's behalf.

Which is pretty much always a mistake, I admit.
posted by occhiblu 02 June | 15:48
This has actually been an issue for me recently, because all my neighbors and our house have this long narrow backyards that bump up next to each other. The wind has a way of going exactly the way I don't want it to go, and the smoke ends up going towards someone's windows (no one has A/C here, I swear to freaking god). It can't be avoided.

I move to the front porch, and the windows on either side are open there too. And when the neighbors eat on their back patio, or are working in the garden (someone is doing one of these things at all times except the middle of the night) they are likely to get a few puffs head their direction. It can't be helped! Seal us up in a bubble or something. It really pisses me off, because when I was a kid, I was subjected to awful people smoking in airplanes and buses and the mall. Not that I would want to do those things, it just bothers me that I can't even smoke OUTSIDE. It's CRAZY.

After a year of smoking in one of my apartments, I realized how gross it was. And whether I could smoke inside or not didn't matter - it's hell on paint, carpet, furniture, bedding, you name it...
posted by SassHat 02 June | 15:50
≡ Click to see image ≡

When people ask me to put that cigar out, I always give them the CIA answer: "We believe it is out." *puff*
posted by warbaby 02 June | 16:03
MetaChat: All your butts in a little plastic take-out container.
posted by ooga_booga 02 June | 16:26
Smoke that you cannot escape from is annoying as hell. You sent them elsewhere to annoy others but its still annoying you. Let it go. Be annoyed about their other many faults.

Save up and buy a house without neighbors. That's what I'm doing and yes, I live in California too.
posted by fenriq 03 June | 00:17
New Orleans, here we come! || Grateful to be me today

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