"smoking ain't allowed in school..."

I know A LOT of smokers. Younger ones (well, peeps my age), older ones (that have been respectively smoking for over 40 years) and thankfully, no really YOUNG ones. While there was a point when I dabbled in smoking, I don't smoke (except for that occasional social one or two).

Truthfully, I don't care who if you smoke. At some point, you KNOW the hazards, you have read the warnings and you understand...its NOT a healthy habit. That's fine. While I don't condone smoking, I am not the anti-christ about it either.

BUT...what I don't like are people that use the world as their ashtray.

This morning, I was cut-off, TWICE, by a (cuss word) in a SUV. She was weaving in and out of traffic, cut me off (as well as several other folks) and whipped her lit smoke out the window, onto the road. Minutes later, we came to a red light and I watched her DUMP her ENTIRE nasty-ass ashtray ONTO the street. She is SO lucky that I was several cars behind. I may not have noticed had I not been spitting nails at her in my head.

L.A. is dirty enough without morons like her in her BMW SUV, polluting the streets with her cancer sticks. The worst thing was, she did not even look around or try to be sneaky, she dumped it like it was the "normal" thing to do. "Hmm, oh hi! Just cleaning my car out! Wouldn't want this sh** to collect in my BMW SUV, now would I??"

Again. I am not preaching to the choir about smoking. Feel free. Puff away. Just don't litter this city (or any city) with the remnants of your habits.

Speaking of preaching, have you given ANYTHING to the Katrina relief funds yet?? I sat and watched hours of footage last night. I even stayed up for Oprah (1 a.m.!) to watch her tour of the former city. It was absolutely the most horrific spectacle. No one wanted her to go into the Superdome, but she pleaded. She went it with a mask on. Imagine a place with little air, little light, no water, no food, feces, garbage, animals running amuck, children screaming and crying, people dying, gangs doing HORRIBLE things AND...on top of that, dealing with ALL of the loss. She was obviously in there when it was empty, but as the camera panned across the room, you could practically smell the chaos that had been there less than a week ago. PLEASE GIVE. (((JUST AN OPINION))) I believe that this would be the perfect opportunity to make some "real" changes to do what I consider to be, breaking the cycle. Wouldn't it be great if some great educators or heads of constructions groups could go to Texas or the other areas where people are staying and start teaching some of the people REAL skills so that when the re-building begins (or when its time to be in the world again), there will be bounty's of jobs of these people can get themselves into better lives? That's just my opinion though.