Inconsiderate house guests...kind of long vent

[cinmell]

We had a cookout on Saturday and there were a few people on the deck so after cleaning up the kitchen I went out to chat and see if anybody needed anything. My brother in law's girlfriend was out there and said oh, I'm done with my cigarette. We don't smoke and neither do any of our friends and family (with the exception of this girl who rarely comes over) so we don't have ash trays. I said, hold on a second, I don't have ashtrays but I'll get a solo cup with a little water in it for you to put your cigarettes in for when you are done. She said, and this is an exact quote, "No thanks, I'm just going to flick it over the fence into your neighbor's yard." I thought she was joking and I said again it will take me two seconds to get you a cup or can or something. She said nope, flicked over the fence into my neighbor's yard and said "All set" with a smile.

Now she was out there for a while so I go over to the neighbor's yard to pick up her mess hoping that they don't come out b/c I don't want to explain that I'm looking for cigarette butts that my brother in law's doofus girlfriend was flicking over into their yard. Then yesterday I found more butts at the bottom of my front steps (which has happened each of the few times she's been over). Why are people so rude? Why not just dispose of your trash properly?

 

[shatzjsl]

You have every right to be mad!

I am a smoker and I hate to see butts laying on the ground. What gets me is that in our smoking areas there will be butts on the groung right beside the ash trays!

BTW, you were much nicer about it than I would have been.

 

[barbeml]

We have a neighbor (we live in a townhome) who has a constant stream of visitors who apparently consider my front lawn their personal ashtrays. It is a mighty short walk from the street where cars park to anyone's front door, but they cannot seem to use the ashtrays in their cars or wait until they enter the house. Nope, gotta drop butts all over MY lawn.

 

[cinmell]

Originally posted by barbeml
It is a mighty short walk from the street where cars park to anyone's front door, but they cannot seem to use the ashtrays in their carsn.

It's funny you mention that b/c this girl's car was parked DIRECTLY in front of my front door so she could have taken 4 or 5 steps and put her cigs in her car ashtray rather than my front steps when she was in front of my house.

 

[Lorix2]

That was completely ignorant.

I would have insisted she pick up the butts herself. She could have started a fire or it could have hit or landed on someone in that yard.

I'd definitely speak to your BIL about it also.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

Ugh! We live in a multi family home. We are the only family that cleans up after ourselves! DBF is the only one of 3 able bodied young men in the building to take out the trash & recyling on trash days. Then he always has to pull the barrels back in because no one else does.

We are ALWAYS picking up cigarettes, and even bought a cigarette disposal thing for the pocrh but they still throw them everywhere. They're all over the yard, and lawn, so once a week, we do a clean up. It's disgusting but if we don't do it, it won't get done.

The butts really bug me, because DBF smokes and he never tosses them. Also, we have a puppy and the other two families have toddlers who play in the yard. Grrrrr.

 

[Hillbeans]

Same here at my office...they have these new very nice plastic receptacles and no one uses them...there are butts all over right where you walk into our building .

In this case, i'd have probably said, "Please don't throw your trash into the neighbors yard, i'll get you a cup".

 

[Tina]

This is one of the things that I just can't understand about smokers. Why do they think that tossing a butt anywhere they please is acceptable? I get so ANGRY when I see people toss butts out of their car windows. Its depressing to sit at a light and see the thousands of butts all around the traffic lanes. I don't dump my trash just anywhere, why do smokers?

 

[Pop Daddy]

long post (kind of)

 

[cinmell]

Originally posted by Pop Daddy
long post (kind of)

you were warned (kind of)

 

[stinkerbelle]

I am NOT defending the smoker in question here - or any smoker for that matter - but I do have to say this.

Not all cars come with ashtrays these days. It was an OPTION on my 2001 car.

Instead of an ashtray - I have a 'change pit"...instead of a cig. lighter, just an 'outlet'.

So not all smokers can go to their car to put out a cigarette.

However I think this persons actions were BEYOND rude. Dogs get VERY ill after eating cigarette butts (my dog got one off a street once)...it's people like her that gives other smokers a bad name.

 

[HappyMommy2]

That's pretty bad. I don't know if that woman is just extroardinarily callous and rude or if she (like a couple of smokers I know) has genuinely convinced herself that cigarette butts magically disappear when you drop them on the ground!

Just yesterday I saw a volunteer work crew (looked like maybe a civic group or something) picking up trash in the median of a large street. One of the workers was smoking, and I saw him flick his cigarette butt behind him and just leave it there!!

 

[disykat]

Our neighbors use our yard for their cigarette butts. They apparently just don't know any better. They put their basketball hoop on the opposite side of the street from our house (on another neighbors property) and all the kids play right there. Candy wrappers, bags of fast food, etc. just get dropped where they're standing when they open them. One time we were out walking and when we came back someone had spit their gum out on the entrance to our driveway - right where we would walk to enter. I pitched a fit.

People like that are generally truly ignorant. I doubt they even think about who cleans it up. They're just dumb enough to think if it's out of their sight it doesn't exist.

 

[RitaZ.]

People that do such things, whether it's a cigarette butt or an empty soda cup, generally lack RESPECT for other people and their property.

 

[Robmom]

I used to have DH's family come over every weekend in the summer. We would have BBQ's and swim in our pool. The next day I would be outside cleaning all of their butts that they just threw everywhere. They would throw it into the street, but I am responsible for cleaning the street in front of my house as well. I even found butts in my swimming pool!!! I really lost it and yelled at everyone for that one. How inconsiderate can people be? I even went out to the dollar store to buy ashtrays for these people, but do you think they would use them? Of course not. Thank goodness they don't come over anymore.