Lost my lunchtime smoking spot

P

petewho

Man O' Gar
Since I'm still pretty new to the leaf, it's been only the past two weeks that I've had a lunchtime cigar, maybe two or three times a week.I'd been walking down to a 20 acre grass field type park that's outlined with a paved path and the occasional bench here and there. I've always entered and exited the park from the same side, taken a seat on the same bench in the shade, and fired up. I've never been given the stink-eye from passers-by.

Here in California smoking is VERY unpopular, and I'm a courteous person. So when families with small kids walk by, I take that time to stand up, stretch my legs, and walk away from the path, letting them pass by far away from me & my odor.

Today I saw a guy walking the path with a lunch bag in his hand, looking for an open bench (most were occupied with people sleeping on them). When he sat down next to me I got up and decided to have a walk for the remainder of my cigar, figuring this guy would like to eat his sandwich without smoke. Once I was up and walking around, I saw something that nearly made me swallow my cigar - a big fat NO SMOKING sign RIGHT above the very bench I'd been sitting on the last two weeks for my lunchtime cigar!

Ugh. I took a walk and finished my stick standing around in an empty parking lot. I can't believe I'd been sitting right under a no smoking sign... Even more unbelievable is that nobody called me on it.
 
That sucks but it doesn't surprise me. Here in the bay it is harder & harder to find a place to smoke. I still find it idiodic that I can't burn an organic product in the open air; yet incense, charcoal, diesel, firewood, etc are all "tolerable" burning products.

I feel for you man. I end up smoking in my car in commute traffic... plenty of that for me to sit in.

Good luck on finding another spot!
 
wek.. too bad we can't all have a smoking tent outside of the office like the Governator
 
If any one ever calls you out on it tell them that you work for a private company to research to see if anybody knows how to read public signs.:r
 
Good thing the California smoking nazi's didn't find you.... I'm sure they'd probably lecture you for half an hour and then remove a kidney for good measure :rolleyes:

Damn CA bastages!
 
petewho said:
Even more unbelievable is that nobody called me on it.
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No, whats Unbelievable is the fact theres a No Smoking sign OUTSIDE!!! Thats messed up. I don't think I'd ever care to live in California. Bans on most guns that I own, can't hardly smoke anywhere. They can keep it :ss
 
petewho said:
- a big fat NO SMOKING sign RIGHT above the very bench I'd been sitting on the last two weeks for my lunchtime cigar!

Ugh. I took a walk and finished my stick standing around in an empty parking lot. I can't believe I'd been sitting right under a no smoking sign... Even more unbelievable is that nobody called me on it.
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Just out of curiosity PW, was there a 'Municipal Code' on that sign, and were there other posted signs throughout this park?


 
MarkinCA said:
Just out of curiosity PW, was there a 'Municipal Code' on that sign, and were there other posted signs throughout this park?
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I'm gonna go down there today and look around. Tough decision for the day - Which stick to take with me? Fuente Don Carlos, Ashton VSG, or an LGC Reserva Figurado? Tough decision... I have all three with me.
 
Is the park a public park or is it on private property? If it is a public park is there a law or ordinace on the books to back it up? If it's a public spot and there's no law the sign may not mean anything.

Here in NYC buildings post signs indicating that you may not smoke within X feet of the enterance, but as long as you are on public property there is nothing they can do about it.

My college actually had the audacity to post signs on DOT street poles around the building. After I complained about vandalism of the street poles, some of them got taken down by the city, but the school put some right back up.
 
petewho said:
I'm gonna go down there today and look around. Tough decision for the day - Which stick to take with me? Fuente Don Carlos, Ashton VSG, or an LGC Reserva Figurado? Tough decision... I have all three with me.
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Wow those are some fancy lunch time smokes. How long is that lunch brake of yours anyway?...Id personally enjoy the VSG:ss
 
Coz77 said:
Wow those are some fancy lunch time smokes. How long is that lunch brake of yours anyway?...Id personally enjoy the VSG:ss
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They're all small cigars.

I had more cash than normal my last trip to the B&M so I splurged a little. Same trip I also bought my dad an Ashton ESG and a Partagas 160 for fathers day, AND I bought a lighter. It was an expensive stop at the B&M!

The smoke I was having when I spotted the no smoking sign yesterday was a Fuente Curly Head, to give you an idea of how econo I normally go.
 
eff that I live in California and I smoke outside all the time in front of no smoking signs too whenever I please. I don't littler I always take care of whatever I had smoked and I NEVER had a problem. If I am a private establishment I will not but outside eff that If anyone said anything I would ignore them then say wait are you talking to me I'm sorry I'm blind I wont smoke here again. There is a big difference between smoking in a sparsely populated area like a park or something vs a small outdoor patio at a cafe or something ya know. I wouldn't make people smellmy cigar but if i am in a very public area they can walk away and if someone chooses to be near you and does the fake cough just do something more obnoxious like act like your going to puke and ask them to leave because they smell bad :r. I would seriously but i have yet to have someone actually sit near me and do the fake cough. I just think about it the same as "doctorcue" what are they gunna do call the police or have a security guard tell you to move and even then if someone asked me to move i would be like "ok wait a sec though so i can finish this". What happend to the good old days when doctors would smoke in thier office and blow it in patients faces :r Sorry for the rant but people are dumb and people who want to control what other do are metally challenged
 
Pete, what city do you work in? No B&M close by to have lunch in? I work in SF's financial district and there's 2 bars that allow smoking.
 
Maybe the sign wasn't there before?
You should have seen all the looks I got from people walking by in a little riverside park in Hong Kong while I was kicked back and smoking a stogie. Like they never saw a white guy smoking a cigar before.:cb
 
petewho said:
Since I'm still pretty new to the leaf, it's been only the past two weeks that I've had a lunchtime cigar, maybe two or three times a week.I'd been walking down to a 20 acre grass field type park that's outlined with a paved path and the occasional bench here and there. I've always entered and exited the park from the same side, taken a seat on the same bench in the shade, and fired up. I've never been given the stink-eye from passers-by.

Here in California smoking is VERY unpopular, and I'm a courteous person. So when families with small kids walk by, I take that time to stand up, stretch my legs, and walk away from the path, letting them pass by far away from me & my odor.

Today I saw a guy walking the path with a lunch bag in his hand, looking for an open bench (most were occupied with people sleeping on them). When he sat down next to me I got up and decided to have a walk for the remainder of my cigar, figuring this guy would like to eat his sandwich without smoke. Once I was up and walking around, I saw something that nearly made me swallow my cigar - a big fat NO SMOKING sign RIGHT above the very bench I'd been sitting on the last two weeks for my lunchtime cigar!

Ugh. I took a walk and finished my stick standing around in an empty parking lot. I can't believe I'd been sitting right under a no smoking sign... Even more unbelievable is that nobody called me on it.
Click to expand...
.
Which only goes to prove that even if the sign were there the whole time most people do not go nuts over someone smoking a stogie. I would still smoke there and if anyone tells you that you can't smoke there then be a champ and put it out. See how long it will last until you are told that you cannot smoke there. I guess you don't pay taxes and that you cannot share the park either. LOL:D
 
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