“My boyfriend, Alex, lives in a high-rise apartment building occupied by college/university students — people you’d think would have some intelligence,” says Meghan in Hamilton, Ontario.
Of course, a little learning is a dangerous thing. In Alex’s building, this seemingly civil request from one of the building’s residents garnered the following indignant response.
But Meghan says her favorite thing about this exchange is the placement — right next that big ol’ city-mandated “no smoking” sign.
related: Cigarettes & energy drinks
124 responses so far ↓
#1
Walker, "Tex" (a stranger)
In case of fire,
NO I WON’T !
leave the fire area immediately,
pull the fire alarm,
notify others,
leave the building
or call the Hamilton Fire Dept. 911
And I certainly will not Remain Calm!
Nov 28, 2010 at 3:01 pm rating: 90
#2
Louisa
Love how the writer took time in the frantic rant to incorrectly edit the response. “Oh yes, hotel has a capital…”
Nov 28, 2010 at 3:07 pm rating: 90
#3
KST
I would have just turned his ass in.
Nov 28, 2010 at 3:16 pm rating: 90
#4
oi
The claim that everyone’s apartment reeks of cigarettes sounds smoky to me. Unless the high rise is made up of three units.
The first note with an oddly specific suggestion about where to smoke, obvious exaggeration and social guilt trip is begging for that tasty retort. Not to mention thin veiled anonymity of the offender, sheer ridicule of the note when smoking is not allowed in the first place and resorting to addressing all when only meant to one. I am not a smoker and do not like cigarette smell. Even then I can’t help but validate the second note.
A simple pointer to do not smoke sign would have done the trick.
Nov 28, 2010 at 3:28 pm rating: 90
#5
bowloftoast
While smoking is forbidden in hallways, elevators, and open areas of apartment buildings in Ontario, there is no law against smoking within the apartments…likely why my entire building smells like weed on a Saturday night (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing).
The note-writer here is completely off-side. There are plenty of smoke-free buildings, and move they should.
Team ‘No I won’t’.
Nov 28, 2010 at 3:44 pm rating: 90
#6
Woman on the Verge
I really want to know exactly where this person is chain smoking to make EVERYONE’s apartment smell of cigarettes. Is this some kind of superhero smoker with the ability to blow smoke through walls? Is the note writer his archnemesis standing by with an asthma inhaler?
Nov 28, 2010 at 4:18 pm rating: 90
#7
Na
I don’t think smokers often realise how foul the smell of cigarettes can be to non-smokers, and how strong the smell can be. And it clings to you a lot longer than other smells (like farts, for example). I once got a second-hand mp3 player and for the entire time I owned it, I couldn’t get rid of the faint smell of smoke that was on it.
I don’t mind the smell of burning tobacco, cigarettes that people have rolled themselves aren’t too bad. (They still smell but it’s not unpleasant.) It’s the ones you buy in packets from the cornershop and are full of chemicals, those smell absolutely disgusting and I have no idea how any one can stand them.
Nov 28, 2010 at 4:21 pm rating: 90
#8
Danielle
We used to live in a condo and a neighbour, about 3 units away used to smoke inside and we could smell it in our living room all the time. The smell was in our furniture and clothes.
We obviously didn’t know this was a issue when we bought it and moving wasn’t an option. We just had to live with someone’s second hand smoke.
When you live in a space shared by others you need to be respectful of the people around you. Especially if it can something that can be harmful to their health.
Nov 28, 2010 at 5:54 pm rating: 90
#9
eatthepeach
Oh please, smokers don’t realise that the smell offends non smokers? Sure, that’s never been brought up before. I’m not a smoker but I love smokers because they are sexy outlaws and I prefer them to uptight rulemakers. Team “No, I won’t”.
Nov 28, 2010 at 6:13 pm rating: 90
#10
Thorbjørn
This just goes to prove that smokers = inconsiderate people.
Oh and by the way, smoking is about a sexy as a middle-aged man’s hairy butt-crack.
Nov 28, 2010 at 7:06 pm rating: 90
#11
Canthz_B
I just wish no one would wear cologne or perfume. Not because it bothers me physically, but because I can smell it. It gets in my clothes, and in an enclosed space like my car I can smell other peoples’ preferred scents coming from MY clothes.
I often light a cigarette just to mask that crap, so please, only wear your cologne/perfume on the balcony.
Thank you.
Nov 28, 2010 at 7:16 pm rating: 90
#12
Non-Mommy
I guess all that smoking impairs their ability to use apostrophes in the word “don’t” as well!
Nov 28, 2010 at 8:10 pm rating: 90
#13
aaa
If you don’t wear shoes, you won’t get smelly feet. Jesus fuck, people should know this shit already!
Nov 28, 2010 at 10:31 pm rating: 90
#14
Madrias
Because of the no-smoking sign, I have to call Team No-Smoking-Here on this one. I’m a non-smoker who doesn’t give a crap where you smoke, as long as it’s a: not in a no-smoking area, and b: not in my damn car or house.
Simple as that. Don’t blow your smoke in my face, and I’ll be happy and not put a firecracker in your next smoke.
Nov 28, 2010 at 10:45 pm rating: 90
#15
Canthz_B
I live in Arizona. At my job there used to be a smoking area outside at the far end of the campus.
We are now a non-smoking campus. We aren’t even allowed to smoke in our cars on campus.
Now that the smokers no longer use that space, it is free for use by non-smokers.
Guess how many of them sit out there in 112°F. temps to eat lunch and socialize in the sun.
Bottom line is that they just didn’t want to even see smokers, not that the smoke was a bother to them or they really wanted to use that outdoor space.
Those tables and benches are made of marble…hot as Hades in the desert sun, and totally unusable for any comfortable purpose. But you win. You can have them.
Happy now? Now that the company pays to maintain a totally unused area?
At some point you just have to see that your crusade has gone too far. When that will happen, no one can say.
Maybe when all smokers quit and all the lovely hundreds of thousands (millions?) of tax dollars disappear.
Nov 28, 2010 at 11:08 pm rating: 90
#16
Kat a falling star
Nice to see the Tea Party has arrived in Canada.
Nov 29, 2010 at 2:06 am rating: 90
#17
Woman on the Verge
I’m pretty the smokers are jonesing so bad for a cigarette that they stopped reading right after “PLEASE SMOKE ON THE BALCONY”. They probably thought, “Awesome! Now I can light up there too!”
Nov 29, 2010 at 7:34 am rating: 90
#18
Cizzerhand
The acoustics must be excellent if you can hear a fart from all of the apartments.
Nov 29, 2010 at 10:51 am rating: 90
#19
WMDKitty
Team “No I Won’t”
What I do in MY apartment, that I’M paying rent for, is MY BUSINESS. All you nosy nellies can just fuck right off.
Nov 29, 2010 at 10:13 pm rating: 90
#20
connie_brea
Yup, they should respect the No-Smoking Sign. Most campuses have zero tolerance for that at least in SDSU nr computer lab.
Second-hand smoke annoys everyone,even some people who smoke hate smoke. I’m seeing Electronic Cigarettes around campus. check out the video.
http://celebrities-electronic-cigs.yolasite.com/
Nov 29, 2010 at 11:18 pm rating: 90
#21
Kent M
The sign doesn’t apply to the actual units, most likely.
Those signs exist in my building, but only mean no smoking in the common areas.
The smoker is probably within their rights.
Nov 30, 2010 at 10:50 am rating: 90
#22
Wordtinker doesnt smith
The odor of your preferred laundry detergent, scented trash bags, auto freshener, home air freshener, deodorant, body spray, mouth wash and breath freshener makes my eyes water, my nose run and my skin sting. It also causes me to cough, sneeze, and choke. I’ll quit smoking (which negates my reaction to perfumes to the point that I don’t have to be medicated) if you’ll give up the joys of scented products. Fair enough?
Nov 30, 2010 at 12:44 pm rating: 90
#23
monop
Sympathizing with the initial note writer. I own a condo, and another condo owner on my floor is completely within his right to smoke it up in his suite but it makes mine reek as well. I actually do smoke on occasion, when I’m out and drinking, but the smell of stale, secondhand smoke makes me ill.. I wish my kitchen wasn’t right next to the condo’s doorway, where the smell is focused. Sigh.
Nov 30, 2010 at 1:32 pm rating: 90
#24
shannon
Everyone knows there’s no such thing as a ‘smoke free hotel’.
I think smoking inside your house is disgusting, but when it affects other apartments and possibly children or individuals with asthma or allergies, that’s really messed up.
As far as I’m aware and I haven’t done much research, stinky feet and curry isn’t a highly addictive and documented carcinogen.
I’d be scouring my lease for legal backup.
Nov 30, 2010 at 9:23 pm rating: 90
#25
shepd
In ontario, despite any rules made by the landlord or in your rental agreement you may always smoke in your own apartment. That no smoking sign applies only to common areas (hallways, elevators) and nothing else.
So, putting it beside that sign is totally irrelevant.
If you don’t like it (I didn’t) either buy a detached house or write the government.
Sorry to be a wet blanket, but people in this province are anti-smoking insane.
Dec 1, 2010 at 7:03 pm rating: 90
#26
Zara
Ah, more proof that smokers are selfish assholes.
Dec 2, 2010 at 12:27 pm rating: 90
#27
sallah
I own rental units. I have no smoking put into my leases. If someone decides to smoke in their units, I am not likely to evict them, but you can bet your bottom dollar they have lost their deposits and will be liable for any other damages due to their smoking… A normal deposit doesn’t cover a full paint job, cleaning the AC/heating unit, cleaning (and in one case, replacing carpets because of burn holes) a complete wipe down of cabinets and every single hard surface…
On one of my small two bedroom units, the cost of smoking, in damages would be close to 1600 dollars…
Dec 2, 2010 at 4:00 pm rating: 90
#28
Steva
Yay! I’m from Hamilton
Dec 5, 2010 at 9:18 pm rating: 90
#29
boiztwn
I work in apartments management and get garbage like this all. the. time. “There’s a smoker on my floor and I can SMELL it; do something!”
It’s perfectly legal (now) to smoke in your unit, even if there’s a municipal or State ban. Bans extend to public areas. Even if I wanted to (and I don’t) file an eviction over something so trivial would be an LOL waste of time and investment, not to mention MONEY! Spending thousands of dollars to evict someone because some whiner on the same floor “demands” it, and then moves out at the end of their lease anyhow because they want to “try something different?” HA!
The worst you could do is write a mean, bluffing letter or give a similar phone call. You could even say “Move. Now.” But If someone doesn’t want to, they don’t have to. Smoking in your unit is completely within the law, even if the hallways smell of smoke or if some frail tenant whines it’s in their apartment (and trust, then you get the ubiquitous “I’M ATHSMATIC!!!” or “I JUST HAD NASAL SURGERY!!!!” like, lol whut? cries of grandeur).
Team response all. the. way. The response is 100% dead on in calling out all the other “sensitivity” whining that goes on in multi-unit buildings such as “she walks on her floor in HEELS!” or “that man was SCREAMING on his cell phone at 10:30 am!” File that whiny “please be my RA” garbage in the dustbin of history.
Dec 6, 2010 at 7:33 pm rating: 90
#30
Aelwyn
In Hamilton, ON, one can’t smoke in public areas, including beneath umbrellas or canopies ANYWHERE (at a bar, in front of a store, etc). I get PISSED when people smoke right in front of a store, under the overhang. And I tell them. I am asthmatic, and severely allergic to chemicals (to the point that I can’t use cleaning chemicals–I use lemon juice and vinegar mostly).
I know a woman with COPD who goes outside and smokes, and it drives me NUTS. Seriously. And she’s on disability for COPD because she can’t walk for extended periods of time due to it. Make sense to anyone????
As for not being able to taste or smell–darn straight! My dad LOVES to smoke–loves the taste, the feel, the addiction. He quit 8 or so years ago (a year after my mum did) due to rising costs of cigarettes. He now admits he can smell and taste things he didn’t know he could. He eats VEGETABLES, something he never did while smoking because he hated the taste (but now loves it). Both he and my mother can’t stand the smell of cigarette smoke anymore.
Personally, I can smell it about half a city block away, if someone is smoking. If someone is a heavy smoker or just entered a shop I’m in after smoking, I can smell it. I hold my breath and move as far away as possible.
I live in a townhouse, and I’m lucky that when the next door neighbours are outside smoking up a storm (the one who was pregnant until recently, still did during her pregnancy and still does), I can close my door until they are done. It sucks that I can’t get my “fresh air” (as if Hamilton’s air is “fresh”, but I live near Ancaster where it is slightly more “fresh”), but at least I can’t smell it through vents or the cracks around my door anymore.
Not to mention the massive amount of illnesses I have that could very well be chalked up to my parents smoking as I grew up. Yay for nicotine (and the chemicals in cigarettes) sucking calcium out of bones, and affecting estrogen. I’m 31 and without a uterus, and had to relearn to walk due to endometriosis affecting nerves in my feet.
Dec 30, 2010 at 7:23 am rating: 90
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