Cigarette Butt Anxiety!!

[bacbacbac]

Hi everyone!

 

This may sound so silly to some of you but if anything, it is a testament to how socially anxious I actually am, lol.

 

Anyway, I am staying in an AirBnB in Berlin (from the USA) right now and I am a smoker. There is a no smoking policy in my rental and the condo complex has no designated smoking area or outside trashcans, smokers poles, etc.

 

So I found a spot to smoke outside, away from everyone's windows, away from the walking path and basically in a place that no one will come into real close contact with my smoke. Although it is in view of the apartment door, it is a few meters away.

 

I have been leaving my cigarette butts in a little pile next to where I sit to smoke and every couple days I will come outside with a little trash baggie and pick them up to throw them away. I honestly thought I was doing the right thing by doing this.

 

Today, one of the neighbors came out to walk her dog and approached me in German to tell me to throw my cigarette butts away. She does not speak English and I don't speak German, so really she just pointed to the dumpster and to the cigarettes and we made it work. But I couldn't explain to her that I was going to pick them up and now I feel like such a terrible neighbor and AirBnB guest!! (However, I through body language, had seen her and her daughter talking about me a few days earlier while I was out smoking. I'm not sure if it's the smoking or the butts that they are annoyed with. Either one is valid.)

 

I was so careful to not offend anyone by my smoking and of course, I somehow managed to.

 

This woman also has a dog who she may be afraid will eat the butts? I don't know. She may just think I'm a lazy, inconsiderate a-hole.

 

If you guys were this woman, and there was a foreign 20-something leaving butts in a pile around your apartment building, what would you think?

 

 

 

Thank you for any replies!

[Starlight925]

As a nonsmoker, I applaud your desire to pick up your butts! So many people are inconsiderate these days.

 

I think she was just assuming you'd be one of those inconsiderate people who do not pick up their cigarette butts. Since you are staying in an Airbnb, and it is sort of a public place, I would just pick them up as you finish smoking them.

 

The next time you see your neighbor, smile and say hello, and she will realize that you have picked them up. I'm sure she will appreciate this.

[Iggy5129]

Why don't you just throw them away after every smoke? What's the point of leaving them in a pile for a few days? Take it to the trash when you're done. That's what I would do when I used to smoke. I never flicked butts in the street. Always waited til I got to a trash.

[bacbacbac]

I'm mostly afraid of my AirBnB smelling like smoke at all with cigarette butts in the trashcans. I guess I just thought that my little pile was mostly just serving as an ashtray that I would empty after a couple of days. I will def. be throwing them away after each smoke now though, I wasn't aware that I was bothering anyone.

[Starlight925]

I'm mostly afraid of my AirBnB smelling like smoke at all with cigarette butts in the trashcans. I guess I just thought that my little pile was mostly just serving as an ashtray that I would empty after a couple of days. I will def. be throwing them away after each smoke now though, I wasn't aware that I was bothering anyone.

 

Ahhh, this makes sense, not wanting your room to smell like smoke.

 

Here's an idea: Get some ziplock bags to put them in after each smoke. Zipped tight, the smell should be minimal.

 

Again, I applaud you for having the courtesy to even think about this. Your Airbnb hosts are lucky to have you.

[j.man]

Is the spot you're smoking at still on the premises?