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Daily news for Seattle's Ballard neighborhood |
BuffaloHawk
offlineMember
Why is it so littered with cigarette butts lately.. Facebooking disgusting.. Please pick up after yourself and the broken bottles in the street added the extra charm. There are dumpsters and a few joints have an outside standing ashtray to grab your deposits.
Honestly.. Slobs
teigyr
offlineMember
This addresses something really curious. I have known people who would never throw "trash" out on the street and yet they will flick a cigarette to the curb. Makes me laugh a bit because when I heard they are thinking of banning cigarettes at public parks, I immediately thought it was due to the smoke. NOPE!!! It's because facebooking smokers can't dispose of their cigarettes properly and it takes too many resources to clean them up.
Another reason not to care for the habit.
BuffaloHawk
offlineMember
I find it interesting that at Molly's they have a smoking patio in the back which is secluded but peeps choose to still go out front. Honestly there are no ashtrays out there and people take a stand off approach when so obvious.
They provide you a facebooking penal colony.. Take advantage
pennygirl
onlineMember
What is a penal colonial? A penal colony? My head hurts after being beaten up on the cat thread.
BuffaloHawk
offlineMember
fixed.. I will drink to that.. been interesting lately.. I may just become a cat herder and cash in my 401k. I have skills and know who and who not to spam for donations.
teigyr
offlineMember
This could go into a whole other debate. I suppose smokers have rights and they have the right to stand whever they want despite the fact law states you have to be within a certain distance away from the door. For someone with asthma or lung problems, it's not so much fun to walk through the cloud of smoke.
Back to throwing butts on the ground, I have no idea why it's accepted like it is. If you ever want to see something completely vile, go to the bus stop by Macy's downtown. Not only does it perpetually smell like smoke even if nobody is smoking there, it's just littered with butts and trash.
BuffaloHawk
offlineMember
I have no problem with smoking in a designated section but please just be considerate. How would people feel if I discarded Edog's dog poop on the street three times a day
allisonw
offlineMember
There may be a lack of receptacles for said waste in front of said bars. Just saying.
pennygirl
onlineMember
I'm off to buy 53 cats and a packet of Marlboro Lights.
BuffaloHawk
offlineMember
allison.. I told Mollys to put out a coffee can can but Public and Tin Hat have standing cigarette collectors. it is getting pretty bad.. just saying
I may get a few cats a school bus and go viral so I can retire this week
teigyr
offlineMember
oh no, dog poop too. Can we bring up unleashed dogs somehow?
BuffaloHawk
offlineMember
My bad.. dog poop is the afternoon show
pennygirl
onlineMember
Only if they bite.
teigyr
offlineMember
Oh that is right and NO off-leash dogs bite. Ever. Especially if the owners are from this site.
BuffaloHawk
offlineMember
I blame Magsy for the Misinterpreted visions of grandeur.
She believes dogs don't bite or smoke ... Silly Uni
pennygirl
onlineMember
Exactly. A MyBallard off-leash dog NEVER bites. It's Ballard after all. they only bite in Hillbilly land.
teigyr
offlineMember
Magsy is ok. I bet fairy dust from Magsy's horn make dog bites go away.
pennygirl
onlineMember
Magsy's sprinkles make everything better.
BuffaloHawk
offlineMember
Can we ship the pachyderms to TN and replace them with a Magsy ?
VeganBiker
offlineMember
BH - I am beginning to figure you out. Maybe.
VeganBiker
offlineMember
BH - I have to admit that I have not walked on 65th between 3rd and 8th lately, but I have noticed that there are loads of cigarette butts all over the place! Last Sunday when I was on Ballard Ave. doing my Sunday gig in front of The Noble Fir, I noticed that there were a lot of cigarette butts all around and the area had a really strong smell of stale tobacco.
So all I can say is that there are people that still want to fill their lungs up with smoke from a chemically enhanced substance that on the packet tells them that it can kill them, so if they want to do that then it is their choice. I just wish they would put the remains in a trash can.
Cheese
offlineMember
Not to get all Bud Light, but..."I love this thread, man".
My two cents: I love Seattle, because when it really rains there are no loose dogs and no smokers on the trails when I'm running and biking. And it rains a lot!
PDaddymom
offlineMember
I live near Molly's and walk by there often - and I have noticed a ton of ciggie butts at the curb. yuk.
Jonathan Pryce
offlineMember
Who is going to clean up after the poop those cigarette butts leave? Just sayin'.
teigyr
offlineMember
Cheese, no kidding!!!
VB, I'm pretty much "live and kill yourself slowly if that's what you want" but I agree re the litter. I also am against second hand smoke, I react poorly to it and it's not right to force other people to share your vice by proxy.
I always marvel at the people driving (alone, no kids in the car because that would explain it) with their hand outside the car window with a cigarette in their hand. They only bring their hand in to actively smoke the cigarette. If it isn't stinky or bad, why not revel in the smell as you drive?
BriarRose
offlineMember
whine whine whine. Buffalohawk is the king of whine.
teigyr
offlineMember
wine?!
BriarRose
offlineMember
Whiners dont deserve wine.
DDF
offlineMember
I saw a guy blow a booger out of his nose on to the sidewalk. Quality individual.
Oh, and spitting on the sidewalk? Don't get me going!
Mondoman
offlineMember
Maybe it's just considered "sidewalk mulch".
DDF
offlineMember
So sick.
leeanimal
offlineMember
It is entertaining to say "Hey, you dropped something!" when you see someone one drop a cigarette butt. They usually look frantically around for something of value and then I point out the butt. Usually, they'll sheepishly pick it up, sometimes I get a "facebook-you" look back. It helps me feel less irritated than just watching some jerk drop the trash on the ground.
great idea
offlineMember
there will come a day, say 5 or 10 years from now, when people (locally anyway) will stop smoking cigarettes. if we continue banning this practice in public areas and tell all our children the evils of tobacco, eventually it will go away.
and so will all those butts.
in the meantime, this stretch of road is better than Damascus.
Lou98107
offlineMember
BH, you are absolutely right about that stretch of 65th; VB, you too are right about Ballard Ave. I'm only down there for the Ballard Farmers Market on Sundays, and sidewalks are filthy outside many of those businesses. And up further, between Kavu and Market St, it's even worse.
When I drove on 65th the other afternoon, I noted smokers in front of one of the bars, the tattoo place, and the laundromat, which was more than I usually see. It reminded me why I avoid visiting adjacent businesses on those blocks. I don't want to squeeze by their foul smelling employees, and have to avoid tracking their butts home on my shoe. There are plenty of other restaurants and bars who keep smokers well away from the doors and windows, and keep their sidewalks and gutters clean.
Nora Bell
offlineMember
Ugh. Spitting on sidewalks. Truly disgusting habit. And I don't care if you smoke or not, dispose of your butts properly. (shakes finger)
Oh, and just to fit in....
Dog poop!!
jubbjubb
offlineMember
I believe the phrase is "unintended consequences". Smoking is banned in businesses, so I must take my disgusting habit outside instead of having a table, ashtray and waiter to keep the butts off the street. Not enough taxes are paid to put up sufficient public garbage cans (despite the massive taxes I pay for my many vices) for me to have a place to descretely deposit my butts. People don't want me smoking in parks or within 25-feet of businesses where there are public trash cans. Residents and business people don't clean up the broken glass in front of their properties, as they should, making a hazard for the dogs and bare-foot children; and in turn, since there's already trash laying there, making a perfectly comfortable place for me to leave my revolting leftovers without feeling too guilty.
And then we've got VeganBiker being all holier-than-thou without taking into consideration all the rubber tire particulate matter his/her bike spews into the atmosphere, streams and roads. All I have to do is walk in the street for a momemt without shoes and my feet are blackened with the filth. Humpff.
teigyr
offlineMember
I'm often reminded of the phrase "this is why we can't have nice things". I was involved in a public garbage can discussion in our neighborhood group once. It isn't just the garbage can, it's who's going to empty and maintain it, etc. Someone DID put up a recycle can in a public place (for cans and bottles) and it got kicked over, filled with dog poop, and decorated with graffiti. You try to put up something to make the neighborhood nicer, like those bathrooms in downtown Seattle, and they get abused and eventually taken away.
Don't most establishments have a smoking area where's there a can or somewhere to put butts? If not, it should be suggested.
There's barefoot children on 65th? Don't they know there's dog poop and broken glass along with the cigarette butts?
BuffaloHawk
offlineMember
I am always walking with my little one down 65th and even she comments and gets disgusted. She freaks out about litter and one time told me if people don't stop there will be no more animals when she is older. I will just nickname her Whiner JR ;)
jubbjubb
offlineMember
BH- seems like time for a lesson in civics for the little one... a pair of small, heavy-duty gloves & a trash bag during the walk will allow her to contribute to the betterment of our district. And, for your benefit, she'll be too tired from all the bending & lifting to whine much.
BuffaloHawk
offlineMember
JJ
Funny thing is she will pick up litter when she sees and is pretty good determining what gets recycled. I just don't want her picking up butts because if there is litter she tries to do her part.
Oly
offlineMember
All Y'all wouldn't even notice the smoke buts if you didn't wind up face down in the gutter after too many pints at Molly's.
BriarRose
offlineMember
"there will come a day, say 5 or 10 years from now, when people (locally anyway) will stop smoking cigarettes." LOLOLOLOLOLOL...wiping tears
Ah BuffaloHawk and whiner in training. What a picture. Parent and child freaking together.
jubbjubb
offlineMember
Right on BH! Truth is I try to do my part too (both cleaning & stirring the pot). Great to see the next generation is on the right track. Now, if you can show her how to type up snarky responses on the MyBallard forum all will be right with the world -- once again a suggestion that may alleviate your subjection to her whining.
great idea
offlineMember
I'm glad I could amuse you briar, but it's the truth.
smoking rates have dropped sharply since the 70's when over 40% of adults smoked.
the midwest and south smoke the most (~ 20%), but here on the west coast it's dwindling quickly (14.9% in WA, 12.9% in CA). soon that number will be zero.
all you menthol-inhaling dinosaurs will be gone.
Nora Bell
offlineMember
Teigyr - Molly's doesn't have a can for cig butts. Though I think they should since a lot of people do hang out out front to smoke and chat. Most do have one these days, but obviously not enough.
gracie
offlineMember
BH - I have to agree with you on this cigarette butt thing & other trash thrown around. I just came back from the International District up near 8th. They have some really nice little parks there & all are super clean. The streets were clean - no papers, bottles. It showed that they take pride in their neighborhood, I would say.
Tamarin Bean
offlineMember
"there will come a day, say 5 or 10 years from now, when people (locally anyway) will stop smoking cigarettes." LOLOLOLOLOLOL...wiping tears
Ah BuffaloHawk and whiner in training. What a picture. Parent and child freaking together.
Yes, of course, he should be smoking around his child and teaching her to follow his example.
Do you have some kind of warning system that alerts you to people who complain about smoker-related issues, Briar Rose? I'm sure the two other vigilant smokers will chime in here any moment now, unless they're out of town.
BriarRose
offlineMember
Oh I just love the naivety of great idea. I am reminded of a man I dated once. By the end of the evening it became apparent he was a smoker. He told me, “Well I don’t REALLY consider myself a smoker. I just sometimes smoke.”
Me, “Well I don’t really consider myself an asshole bit I do occasionally make the mistake of dating one.”
Funniest part is that I AM a smoker. I just hate idiots.
I also recall standing at a bus stop downtown with a colleague. He was saying how it was nice all the smokers were banned. Hmmm. Of the 23 people at the stop, 17 were smoking. He counted and agreed and felt very stupid.
pennygirl
onlineMember
Hey Tamarin - didn't you start a smoking thread a year or two ago? Or was it someone else? Do you have an alert?
BallardTrees
offlineMember
Cigarettes butts are toxic to all living things--they carry many of the poisons and human carcinogens found in tobacco smoke. They are not biodegradable. http://www.legacyforhealth.org/PDFPublications/TOBACCO_ENVIRON_0611_temp.pdf
Filters are a marketing ploy by the tobacco industry to make ppl think that filters help them avoid damage due to smoking. http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/11/suppl_1/i18.full
I wonder why it is not normal for smokers to carry a little bag or tin can to use to dispose of their butts? What are the underlying attitudes and beliefs that lead the irresponsible smokers to believe that littering their butts is OK? What underlying beliefs allow them to not care that cigarette butts stink, are unsightly, and harmful when ingested or when they enter the waterways?
For every smoker who dies (440,000 Americans each year), 20 others suffer serious smoking-related diseases. We are all paying out-of-pocket for this, in addition to the cost of cleaning up the trash.
great idea
offlineMember
I'm surprised there's not some 'eco-cigarette' where the pack of smokes has a small hole (like a crayon sharpener) where you can place the finished butt (and it won't smell, perhaps utilizing 'diaper genie' technology).
gracie
offlineMember
Someone I know is a heavy smoker and has two kids. When they were very little she would smoke in the car, in the house around them. The one child, especially, developed really bad case of asthma. I remember saying do you think the cigarette smoke is affecting them and her reply no.
Saw on a reality TV show this one woman was "smoking" a fake cigarette that produced "smoke." Kinda weird but no butts and apparently no inhaling as she claimed.
I hate it when I'm going into a building & right by the door are all these smokers & I literally hold my breath until I get out of smoke.
Sunflower75
offlineMember
For the smokers whining that there is no trash can nearby - take your butt...put it in your pocket until you find one - there is certainly a garbage can in your home...why is it ok to just throw your trash on the ground? HOld on to your shit until you can throw it away? What's so difficult about that?
BallardTrees
offlineMember
Less than a hundred years ago there were no filters littering the ground. Now they are everywhere--the most littered item on Earth. And filters do nothing but lull the smoker into believing they are safer.
The trillionnaire tobacco companies are hoping no one really cares...which, apparently, considering the trillions of butts littered a year, we don't.
One day people will look back to this century of death & destruction due to tobacco and wonder, "Wow. 6 million ppl a year died (as of 2012--that number is increasing). All for profit for one industry? Sheesh. I guess that shows the power of addiction." They will have moved past this public health problem and will shake their heads in disbelief saying, "How did they let that happen?" I hope that's happening by year 2100.
JM
offlineMember
I agree, it's a mess! The littering problem is compounded when smokers need to empty the ashtray in their vehicle. Cars and trucks have become one of the last refuges for the tobacco addicts and they have no problem dumping a week’s worth of debris on the city streets.
great idea
offlineMember
"Of the 23 people at the stop, 17 were smoking"
do more people who ride the bus smoke?
this seems to exceed the 1 in 7 WA adults who smoke.
who are these smokers? I hardly know anyone who smokes (cigarettes) these days.
teigyr
offlineMember
My dad smoked and was very fortunate in that his cancer was caught early and treatable. A friend smoked and he's still going in for cancer screenings every year, he's in remission but it's looking good. Another friend quit and he's saved something crazy like $10,000.
If peoples vices would just stay with them, I don't care (for the most part) if they're killing themselves. The problem is non-smokers are affected too and not just by absorbing the health costs. There are incidences of lung cancer and breathing problems. I am the child of ex-smokers (though really nobody knew how bad it was at the time) and remember when I was young having my eyes swell up, not being able to breathe, and my eyes burning so bad I'd close them and hope to not walk into anything. This has carried over into adulthood only now it involves drooling and my throat closing up :) SO pretty. Ex-smokers I know say they didn't know how stinky it was until after they quit.
I was going to ask about toxins and throwing cigarettes out on the ground. I figured it wasn't good. What's even better than on the ground and stomped out is on the ground and lit. I see plenty of those too where it's just smoldering away and nasty and near underbrush enough to make me nervous.
BriarRose
offlineMember
Gee great maybe you only know fake greenie neo seattlites. My point dear is that any stat based on self reporting has no basis in reality.
Gracie... "Someone I know...." Personal anecdotes are worthless. My mother is 92 and has lived all of her life with at least one smoker, sometimes more.
There is no such thing as being anergic to cigarette smoke. No alergist has ever told anyone they were.
Tamarin Bean
offlineMember
Hey Tamarin - didn't you start a smoking thread a year or two ago? Or was it someone else? Do you have an alert?
No Ma'am, I just read threads frequently, and notice repeated behaviors. For example, how defensive smokers become when other people complain about their habit (especially those who feel guilty about it, it appears).
teigyr
offlineMember
There is potential for increased sinus infections, bronchitis, and it aggravates allergies. This is also taken from the Mayo Clinic website:
How risky is secondhand smoke?
Secondhand smoke causes or contributes to serious health problems, including:
Lung disease. Exposure to secondhand smoke can aggravate respiratory conditions — especially for people who have asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Heart disease. Secondhand smoke damages blood vessels and interferes with circulation, which increases the risk of heart disease and heart attack. A new Mayo Clinic study suggests that secondhand smoke also increases the risk of sudden cardiac death.
Cancer. Secondhand smoke is a known risk factor for lung cancer. In addition, secondhand smoke contains benzene — which increases the risk of leukemia.
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