One sultry summer night, it was warm enough for an open window with a fan, but not so warm for use of air conditioning. I laid there enjoying the sound of the crickets and was just about to drifting off to sleep, when a very unpleasant smell wafted in thru my windows and jolted me fully awake. The smell was so overwhelming there was no sleeping for me anytime soon until it thoroughly dissipated. I knew what it was immediately but there was nothing I could do about it.
The summer had been so pleasant at night there was no need to put my air conditioning unit in yet and it was not something I was going to do about it at that hour.Sleep alluded me most of that night. So in order to avoid this nightly assault I will be forced to give up the peaceful lull of the crickets and listen to the drone of an air conditioner at night. Not only an annoying thing, but also a costly adjustment on my part, but needed to get a restful night's sleep.
The smell was from my neighbor's cigarette and her husband's very strong and smelly cigar. Their air conditioning was humming, so apparently they had stepped out on their balcony to smoke instead of smoking up their own home. How considerate of them, NOT. Their back yard borders on my side yard, and it is a considerable distance, but the smoke does travel.
This is a theme that seems to be universal. I read about it on real estate boards where owners are bothered by smokers on their baloneys. I read it on cruise discussion boards where people in balcony cabins have to keep their sliding doors closed to keep the smoke out from the adjacent cabins. And of course from workers when they have to walk passed the cloud of smoke from their colleagues who are huddled outside. So then there are arguments about smoker's rights vs non smokers rights. But really who has the right to the air? When I indulge in my own vices, they never impinge on anyone else's air, aura or rights in general. so the question is, I own the property and what I do on it is private, but who owns the air?
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