Email to my Roommates:
Today my mom is visiting. So I went out front and saw a full can of cigarette butts and a blanket of ashes all over our porch.
Was I disappointed in my smoking roommates? Yes.
I feel like I have been very clear about my feelings on cigarettes. I don't like them. I hate the smell. I hate the way that if I touch a butt, my hand smells like shit for hours. Piles of over-filled ashtrays are GROSS. When they get waterlogged by rain and just sit there for days, it makes me gag.
I feel like I've been clear about this. In family meetings I've tried to communicate that this is a sore spot for me.
I�d hate to think that we need more rules or penalties.
Try to imagine your old butts as vomit.
If I vomited all over the yard. I would clean it up every couple days, at least.
If I vomited in my special vomit bucket, but it started sloshing all over the place and around the yard, I would be embarrassed. I would recognize that MY mess was reducing the pleasantness of our communal spaces. After my roommates brought it up a couple times, I would make it a habit of cleaning up after myself.
Do you think I am being unfair by asking smokers to do the following?
-use ashtrays
-empty ashtrays frequently.
-clean up when ashtrays spill or get waterlogged
-clean up stray butts.
Is this too much to ask? If my requests are infringing upon Smoker Culture or impairing your ability to enjoy your nicotine, I am certainly willing to discuss this.
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