If you’re one of those people who sits at their computer sucking down cigarette after cigarette, you might want to think twice about your habit. Reports coming in from The Consumerist are saying that Mac users are be declined for service due to the “biohazard” created by smoking near your computer. At least two of the people who had been turned down for Apple Care because of second hand smoke, one with a MacBook and one with an iMac. They took their case all the way up to Steve Jobs himself and were still denied service.

In Apple’s defense, I have personally had to repair many computers whose insides were caked with heavy, sticky, brown nicotine-laden dust, and I can attest that smoking near your computer certainly can cause as much harm to it as it does to yourself.

Ok, so not completely smoke-free, but as of July 5, 2010, all bars, restaurants, and workplaces in the state of Wisconsin will be non-smoking. Governor Doyle signed the measure in to law earlier today, saying, “It’s time for every person in Wisconsin to breathe freely at restaurants, taverns, and workplaces across the state. A smoke-free Wisconsin will save money in health care costs, improve public health and save lives.” Having lived in Minneapolis when this was passed in Hennepen County, I look forward to once again going in to Restaurants and not being asked “smoking or non” and being able to go out to drink without reeking of smoke.

Dear Smoker Driving In Front Of Me,

Don’t worry, I’m not about to go off on a tirade about how what you do should be made illegal. I respect the rights that you have in this country to smoke cigarettes and for the most part I in turn tend to avoid places where it overly affects me, namely poorly ventilated bars and restaurants. The exception, however, is when your smoking habits directly endanger me, without my choice. I’m not referring to second hand smoke, because I know you’re going to come back at me with studies funded by the likes of Philip Morris “proving” that second hand smoke is harmless. What really gets to me is when you feel that the absolute best way to dispose of your cigarette butt is to toss it, still lit, out your car window. In case you didn’t pay attention in high school physics, the airflow around your moving car will cause what you throw out it to be sucked behind your car and thus ends up going directly under my car, still lit. When I call your cigarette “lit”, think of it as a nice easy way of saying “your cigarette is on fire” and, despite the inexplicably slow development of alternative fuels, cars do still run on a very flammable liquid called gasoline. Given, the chances of you throwing your butt directly under a car that happens to be leaking gasoline are slim, but the chances of it blowing over to the side of the street in a dry pile of leaves and starting a fire or leaving a burn mark on my car are much higher.

You may now be wondering what I propose you do with your cigarette butt if you longer simply throw it out the window. If you look around your vehicle, you’ll probably find a little drawer that you’ve likely been keeping your extra change in. Turns out, that was actually meant to be an ashtray. Try using it for its intended purpose (Note: If you don’t smoke, keep using it for spare change). If you happen to drive a newer car that does not have an ashtray, swing by your local Target, K-Mart, Walmart, or whatever other store you have in your area and pick up one of those handy cup holder ashtrays that they offer. If, like me, you prefer to shop online, Amazon has a nice variety of ashtrays for your cup holder.

I hope that you consider what I have said above and I look forward to being able to drive around without having lit cigarettes thrown at my car.

Sincerely,
Everyone Driving Behind You