But first, a bit about Santa Monica.
I celebrated Father’s Day by taking my dad to Santa Monica, the town that maintains a firing squad for anyone caught smoking anywhere. We sat on the patio sidewalk in front of this place, and my dad asked the waiter server if he could smoke. He knew the answer would be no, but he wanted to see what the guy would say. Server-dude said it’s okay to smoke six feet away from the eating area.
Minutes later, another restaurant patron lit up while sitting at his table. I’m not sure if server-dude saw this or not. No one was at the table next to the guy. In fact, no one was within six feet of this guy. No one was offended. No one said anything.
Later we walked through Palisades Park. I pointed out the “No Smoking” signs. We walked out to the pier, which is also a no smoking area. I saw two elderly tourists, a European-looking couple, both with a cigarette in hand. I thought how incredibly ridiculous it would be for a police officer to approach them and request that they extinguish their smoking materials.
Aggressive anti-smoking ordinances are only effective if they can be enforced. When ordinances are so comprehensive as to be unenforceable, they just end up being silly. Santa Monica, you’ve gone too far. Everyone, even smokers, knows that smoking is bad, even the blind smokers that have to buy the special cigarette packs with the surgeon general’s warning in Braille (not really, I just made that up). I can’t imagine Santa Monica wants to yank cigarettes out of tourists hands and end up losing tourism income. Or will nicotine replacement soon be available at the Visitor’s Center?
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It’s been weeks, people, WEEKS since I’ve seen any egregious graffiti in my little corner of District 1. That really doesn’t mean much considering how I’ve been chained to my desk working on a project. Anyway, this little Father’s Day gift was deposited at the northeast corner of Lincoln and Montana.
In fairness, the WWMHS was not on the wall. It’s just that I figured out that I could put text on photos, so I had to try it out.
West Coast Grrlie Blather 
I like New York’s latest anti-smoking law, which is very simple: higher sales tax on cigarettes. A pack costs about $10 in New York. Go ahead, smoke on the street, if you can afford it. Otherwise, call the city’s “quitline” and they’ll send you a free “stop smoking kit” with help in quitting.
Tobacco costs states and large municipalities _a lot_ of money in health care costs…
WWMHS
Oh, that’s precious.
Ugly and unimaginative “artwork” blegth.
Just make tobacco illegal…oh no, wait, they won’t do that.
I love the first graffiti of the summer. The way the sun sprinkles off of beautiful words like an almost Yen symbol followed by NSPx3.
Maybe it’s some Muir algebra homework? 🙂
It’s summertime…and school’s out. Already have been seeing some new graffiti here in District 4 in the past week. Pasadena already had our first homicide (although I don’t think it’s gang related). Nothing says summer in Pasadena like graffiti and homicides.
Did you call the graffiti tip hotline?
@RtK – Yes, I’m all for higher sales tax on cigarettes. Anyway to recoup the health care costs is fine by me.
@MH – You’ve not lost your touch.
@AP – I saw it on Sunday, so I actually called the police’s non-emergency number. It’s been painted over, but someone did a lousy paint job because you can still see the dark lines underneath. Hopefully someone will slap another coat on the wall.
That made my day WWMHS indeed!
In my cell phone I have this number for reporting graffiti: 744-7622.
But my favorite is this one, for reporting stray shopping carts: 744-8227. I suppose it’s unwise of me to admit I get a gleeful charge out of reporting escaped shopping carts to the authorities. But we’re all friends, right? WWMHS?
Look what some kids did to my ad! Graf! Vandals! Arrest them? Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!
I can’t stop screaming.
I am yelling always with the yelling.