It is my hairdressing morning - 9.30 each week. I had two more jobs to do - one was to get a new ferrule on the bottom of my Leki walking stick as the one on had worn through to the metal. I went into the shop next to my Hairdressers and the owner did it while I waited. Then I wanted a small clock for my bedside table - a friend told me that I really shouldn't sleep with my mobile under the next pillow. The Electrical Shop is just a little further along the same street in our little town so I soon completed that errand. So far so good but wait. On the way along the street I passed Costa coffee - quite a new venture in our town and located in what used to be the H S B C Bank until, sadly, it closed a couple of years ago.
When it was the bank it was always neat and tidy and very smart outside. Costa must have spent a lot of money on converting it and inside it is now very smart and modern. But outside ? There are railings and then the footpath - railings which are sorely in need of a coat of black paint and - worst of all - between the railings and the road the footpath is always littered with cigarette ends. I don't think anyone ever comes out and sweeps there.
I went and had a cup of coffee and two rounds of toast in my usual cafe, bought myself a magazine in the Newsagents and then walked slowly back to my car, parked outside a pub. Mountains of cigarette ends outside both doors there too. Surely they are not all that difficult to sweep up.
Time was when it was socially fashionable to smoke - when you were considered odd if you didn't. But that is a long time ago. Smoking is banned in public buildings, people have to come outside if they want to indulge. There is usually a receptacle to put the ends in. Is it all that difficult to do? And if it is - then surely it is not all that difficult to sweep them up the next morning. These buildings are smart and clean inside. What a pity they are let down by the yard or so outside the door. It makes such a difference to the overall effect it has on the town. Am I being picky?
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26 comments:
No, you are not being picky. Clusters of smokers who now have to smoke outside seem to have made our streets look worse, combined, I suppose, with a dearth or total absence of street sweepers. The old-fashioned shopkeeper who kept their part of the pavement clean is also long gone. As a lifetime non-smoker, I just see it as a colossal waste of money.
I'm also saddened at the often messy areas outside shops on streets - and of course recall the good old days when one actually saw the shopkeeper out before opening time sweeping, washing down, and sometimes even polishing the bits of brass and cleaning the windows!!!!!! Sadly Pat those days are gone and people just don't seem to care. Must say that at least when one shops at an indoor mall everything is usually clean and bright, but who knows how long they will last with so many stores closing and, over here, long time chains are going out of business left and right due to online shopping!
So that is where redundant bank buildings are going. Costa is also in Pickering in an old bank building, though they have tables and chairs outside on the pavement, and i think the streets are swept. As for smoking a very expensive hobby, I actually pity those poor people smoking outside on the street.
It is the same outside the entrance to our hospital - or at least it was the last time I had to visit. Things may have changed recently(?).
The patients (and staff) who smoke congregate right outside the front entrance under the awning so any visitors have to run the gamut of clouds of noxious fumes in order to enter. The paving stones are also littered with cigarette ends although, I have to admit the porters / housekeeping staff made an effort to clear it up. Not a particularly healthy environment for a hospital!
Yes, it's very sad to see the pile of cigarette butts outside establishments, when they spend so much on making the actual building all shiny and new.
I'm wondering if it comes down to values, many lost, due to corporations/ownership, and not actual owner/operated.
My grandma owned her own bakery for thirty eight years, every morning before opening, the pavement was swept, the window cleaned, and the step donkey-stoned.
Sadly no more.
~Jo
No, you're not being picky. Smoking is a dirty habit in all ways and people that just drop their cigarettes onto the ground are littering. Shame upon them!
I am some relieved to find that the "moan" was not caused by a fall! And, yes, the problem of cigarette butts (as they are called here in
Texas) is real. I have always thought that the irresponsibility of smokers goes hand in hand with the habit. They are not taking care of
their health or OUR environment. Maybe there should be penalties for the owners of properties used by the public if they don't keep the walkways clean? I know that here, if vandals spray graffiti on my fence, or building, I, as the owner, will be fined if I don't take care of it
In a timely manner.
That all sounds very reasonable to me. I was lucky enough to work in a place was smoking was strictly forbidden anywhere on the premises, but it was always a surprise to find out which members of staff did smoke when off duty, not usually the ones you might have expected. But then there's a cancer research lab in Cambridge which has a staff smoking area outside.
We are lucky in our little town that it is quite clean and that there is a community group that pick up the litter. We are also far far away from McDonalds and any take away coffee shop. We have cafes and restaurants, but if they do take out coffee, we dont see it littering the streets. I am thankful for that.
No Pat you are not being picky at all. And if it bothered me i would call/email or drop a note to the offending business. I always tell myself' perhaps they do not realize' so i consider myself helping them out.. I wont pick the cigarette 'butts' up for them but i have no problem nudging them in the right direction....Maybe when you tell them you passed up their coffee shop because of it they will sit up and listen......Hugs! deb
I'm with you about the cigarette butts. The look bad enough, but to me, the smell is even worse. I'd mention something to the shop owners. I've done retail, and you do need to keep the front clean; it IS the first and last thing the customer sees!
You are absolutely not being picky. In fact you are showing pride in the village you call home. My pet peeve is trash of any kind dropped on the street or public area. right up there with trash is graffiti. Both show disrespect for others and makes me wonder what that persons house looks like inside.
I agree with you completely. The cleanliness of a business should include the inside and outside and particularly around entrances. Most restaurants and businesses around here have receptacles for cigarettes at all the doors and there is at least an attempt made to keep the entrance area clean. Like you, I hate to see places where this is not done as it reflects badly on that business.
Not picky at all. I hate seeing cigarette ends and other rubbish lying about. I walk past a betting shop on my way to buy my paper each morning and there were always dozens of cigarette ends littering the pavement outside. But, wonder of wonders, just this week there is a very smart little bin labelled 'Cigarette Ends' outside the door.
Inform cafe manager if things don’t improve you’re going to send a photo of the mess to the local paper and take the matter up with the costa coffee customer relations dept - perhaps a written complaint to the parish council. The threat is often enough.
Thanks to you all. I shall put pen to paper tomorrow.
No, you are not picky. Cigarette butts not only look ugly, they stink.
Why can't phones be under pillows?
Mine is on my nightstand, but I am curious.
It's all a question of having pride in your surroundings; presumably those smokers don't.
Like Brenda, I am wondering about the mobile not supposed to be under your pillow. In my case, I wouldn't want it in my bed simply because I'd be afraid to inadvertedly have it fall off the bed when I turn in my sleep, but other than that, I can't see any obvious reason.
As for fag butts, they are a nuisance, and every smoker who just snips them away after finishing a cigarette should be heavily fined for polluting. I see it every day on my trips to and from work; people waiting on the platform next to me smoke (even though nearly all stations have "This is a non-smoking station" sign) and then, as soon as the train approaches, snip their half-smoked cigarette away. What to they think where it ends up? In a black hole in outer space? No, right here on the platform where they would stand in rubbish up to their knees if no-one cleaned up after them!
I have just quickly looked up why mobiles should not be under your pillow......it is to do with radiation or something! I don't really understand, but you could " google" it and I don't think you will do it again!! ( I leave mine in the kitchen, apart from when I am in the house alone at night!)
Here, chewing gum is spat out onto the pavements in huge quantities where it stays forever unless the council takes it off with a steam cleaner. In the Summer it melts and becomes sticky again. Give me cigarette butts any day. At least you can sweep them up.
Frances - that is why I take mind to bed.
Seems it is a problem faced by us all - but thanks for responding.
I agree about sweeping up the nasty cigarette butts. A very simple task that would take a minute every morning. I am just starting to follow your blog now, and have enjoyed it. Phil, Minnesota
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