apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Are you a renter? If so, I'd definitely bring it up to the landlord. Other than that, maybe try to make another location more attractive for smoking. Or make that location *less* attractive..! lots of spiky cactus or those spikes they use to keep pigeons away :)

Definitely go to the landlord or homeowners association, or coop board of whatever.

But...if that doesn't work.

Suggestion that's a bit evil.

Get a few recordings of Rush Limbaugh and whenever they start smoking put a speaker right by the window and blast them with it, or some other obnoxious audio experience.

Just a thought.

First, read this: http://tinyurl.com/n5why

I probably don't need to say anymore than what was said in that blurb. One of my all-time favorites.

Yeah, of course I smoke. In my apartment. I can no longer smoke in any public building. Or within 50 feet of said building's doors. The entire campus I used to attend is designated "smoke-free". Bars are "smoke-free".

Even the outside is "smoke-free" in places like Berkeley. Nope, can't stand outside to smoke, have to keep walking while smoking. The gods forbid someone somewhere might be downwind.

Oh, geez, I was looking for another article that compared a smoke-filled room with commuting (the commuting was worse for everyone's air quality/health) and found this, funny stuff:
http://arstechnica.com/journals/science.ars/2006/2/2/2742

I could sit here and smoke a whole pack. Then I could get in my car and safely drive. Other than coughing a lot, there wouldn't be impared judgement. Who do you want on the road? Me, smoking? Or the other person, who's been drinking? There aren't organizations (although there will be now) called Mothers Against Stupid Smokers (MASS). Because mothers don't lose children to "driving under the influence of nicotine" accidents.

A bunch of smokers get together and make a cloud. We don't really brawl as a result of smoking excessively. We just cough more. We don't beat our spouses, children, or animals because we smoked too much.

Our morning after smoking too much generally consists of even more coughing.

Frankly, I'd rather have smoke billowing out of all windows than to ever hear another drunken argument that may or may not entail violence in this apartment complex.

I'll take the smoke billowing out of hybrid car windows, over highly polluting, gas guzzling vehicles.

I'll take stinky clothing, holes and all, over some nut whacked out on some drug, booze, or combination. People do strange things under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Only time smokers do weird things is when they have cigarettes and no matches. Then you'd think you were around hungry lions.

I'll take criminals that smoke, you'd hear them coming, hacking up lung chunks as they wheeze up the incline to your estate, stopping to take rests all the while. No more of the gun-toting creeps that sneak around to steal things for drugs or gold teeth.

If you are lucky enough to have more than one set of windows on one side of the house, close those windows. I only have one window and the door, so whatever is out there is in here. Yeah, it does suck sometimes.

Other peoples smells. Their own brand of tobacco. Some guy down the hall smokes skunk weed. Or actually has a pet skunk. I'm not sure which.

People that cook stuff way better than anything you were going to have. People that cook (?) stuff that can't possibly be edible. Or they died in there. And keep redying night after night. People that wear too much cologne, aftershave, perfume. People that just finished working out and smell awful. People that fart. People that eat foods that make their skin smell like whatever ghastly thing they ate, which I find nauseating. I don't care how good it was, you stink buddy. Of course, even my ear wax smells like fish after I eat fish and chips, so I try not to go anywhere for a couple days and let the fish essense wear off.

Yeah, maybe your flowers have pollen that give me problems. And maybe your TV is too loud. And maybe you slam the bloody door when you come home and wake me up. Hey, just because YOU work that shift doesn't mean I work the same shift.

Maybe you rev your engine and wake up their baby. Maybe your vacuum is too noisy. Maybe your clothing clashes and is visually offensive.

When's it going to end?

I got a notice (the whole floor did) about LOUD MUSIC coming from our apartments. I DO NOT HAVE A STEREO. My radio, a neighbor's cast off, has one little speaker. Which isn't plugged in. My television isn't plugged in. I tiptoe around here and close my front door quietly, because I DO NOT WANT TO BE THE CAUSE OF SOMEONE ELSE'S DISTURBANCE.

Maybe they're smoking outside your window because you're too noisy? ;)

Andree, dispite that LONG post/rant you didn't even address the topic.

except those things you listed don't cause cancer...

Sure I did anne. "If you are lucky enough to have more than one set of windows on one side of the house, close those windows. I only have one window and the door, so whatever is out there is in here. Yeah, it does suck sometimes."

Someone smokes 60 years and doesn't get cancer. Pack a day. Sucking in smoke directly and breathing their own second hand smoke. How long would it take for a weekly whiff of second hand smoke mixed with outdoor air from a distance that might come into the house if the windows are open to cause cancer? Several hundred years? A thousand? Never?

When my apartment was filled with smoke and fumes from some moron downstairs who was illegally grilling outside, and used enough starter fluid to set the whole complex on fire, that WAS a problem. A REAL problem. There were no other windows to open to air out the fumes. I opened the door and turned on the bath exhaust fan, but I still ended up calling the Poison Control Center, because of the fumes. Guys, I was dizzy and loopy and all the other stuff. THAT is cause for concern. Being unable to breathe. Being dizzy and nauseated.

That would make me sit up and take notice. I'd back Em 100% if she was unable to breathe. If she was nearing the point of blacking out. Those fumes from a grill? They KILL people in a short period of time. Not years, or hundreds of years. Hours.

READ MORE:
http://www.cdc.gov/co/faqs.htm
Carbon monoxide, or CO, is an odorless, colorless gas that can cause sudden illness and death...People who are sleeping or intoxicated can die from carbon monoxide poisoning before ever experiencing symptoms.

This is a site that you ALL should have in your favorite places:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus

You'll be pointed to a vast array of legitimate sites. There are a gazillion sources of carbon monoxide.
http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/fs050120.htm

Remember, those fumes are there if you're smelling something tasty on your own grill. Oh yeah. The fragrant aroma of sizzling something wafting into your home is carrying along the carbon monoxide too. Bad news, people.

Neither anne nor Jess offered anything other than to criticise my comments. In the future, you may wish to criticise my comments while also addressing the topic. So don't criticise my comments about not addressing the topic when you aren't doing it (and I actually did). :P

This is where I get to be really childish and say "Neener-neener". I never did that as a child, but I'm enjoying doing it as an adult.

I had no intention of offering anything to this discussion. I read the comments and made a remark about yours. I'm under no obligation to come up with solutions to every query. But my post was to point out that someone who DID feel the urge to post should have at least addressed the topic. Closing the window? In that long post of yours I guess I missed that. Not that that is a solution to her problem but man, you can have said that and saved a whole lot of bandwidth.

Sorry if this pisses you off Andree. You have been a asset to AT and have come up with wonderful ideas but these long posts/rants are hard to take sometimes. I feel like I need a fine toothed comb to find your point.

To spite the fact that your neighbors have smoked outside your window for a second time after you asked them not to, I think being nice will work better than being nasty. This is what I've found both personally and professionally. Perhaps a little white lie is in order. I would say, very nicely, almost too nicely, ' I really don't want to be a pain, I'm so sorry to bug you, but I have the most unbelievable case of asthma. I'm allergic to everything, and I'm way better off with the windows open, who knows why. If you could possibly smoke someplace else I would really be indebted to you.' Obviously you shouldn't have to beg, but in the pursuit of getting what you want I bet this will work. Use every option you have before you get nasty. It just works better, and faster, in the long run.

Pee over the edge of your window... it has the additional benefit of being just as disgusting as smoke in your apartment on a daily basis.
Ok, seriously now, it is best to have your landlord/association hash this one out. You have done your job, you're just going to end up like a broken record if you keep asking and they keep abstaining and then doing it all over again after a few days.

That's absolutely terrible to be uncomfortable in your own home. I think you are fully within your right you ask the people to smoke further away. If you have to, mention that you have breathing difficulties or something. If the smell comes in through your windows...I'd look into checking out the sealant. Also, those air filter systems (e.g. Ionic Breeze Towers) are great at sucking out bad smells from your home. I'd feel so uncomforable asking the smokers to relocate...but you shouldn't have to sacrifice your own comfort for them when they can easily go elsewhere.

Um...Andree...when you smoke cigarettes, what do you think you're breathing in? Purified oxygen? It's carbon monoxide!