Out of Site, Out of Mind

Some might argue "out of mind" applies more broadly. In the true spirit of transparency I note I am out of town this week, with wife and mother-in-law along the shores of Sarasota, Florida where the smoke police have gone too far (thanks Stacey for reminding me of my poor spelling.)



As indicated the the photo, left, showing your author during far happier times one of the few major vices I enjoy is still puffing away at a good cigar while strolling the beach. OK, not always good -- but at least one worthy of a Churchill or Clinton. That pleasure is now a thing of the past thanks to the fuzzy logic of citizen leaders here who don't like their beaches serving as ashtrays.



Rather than enforce anti-littering laws, which would require a police presence or some other type of civil authority to actually walk the beaches, they've outlawed smoking on the sand. It bears mentioning, I supposed, that the beach is the ONE area in tropical Florida where the air actually DOES move all on it's own, assuring that neighbors are not giving neighbors cancer.



For the record, I like non-smoking areas in restaurants; I appreciate non-smoking sports venues (except golf courses) and I even prefer no-smoking in bars on those somewhat rare occasions when it's time to tip a few. But the beach?



My wife, the Nature Girl, insists I am blowing this all out of proportion and besides I can still sit on a park bench while she goes shopping. OK, that takes care of about three hours of time but it is beside the point.



Instead of enforcing the already-existing laws governing the cleanliness of public lands we are now banning the open-air use of a fully legal substance. Even in the case of alcohol so long as it isn't in a glass or metal container you can pretty much guzzle to your heart's content so long as the goods are in plastic.



Oh, for simpler days...