it's the law, stupid

i admit perhaps i am a bit cranky in my old(-er) age. blame it on the commute, the stress of modern life, the grieving process which really does take a long time to get through. and yes, i do have little patience - but still, the law is the law.

the other morning, i arrived at the train station to go to work. it was raining. the station entrance - the wee bit that is covered, right by the doors - was rammed full of smokers. i had to run the gauntlet to get through without inhaling any of their cancer-emitting sticks. nice.

now the catch here is that, as of 1 july last year, that area is a designated no smoking area, courtesy of the uk's (slightly laggard and 'partial' - jut ban it outright in public, i say) smoking ban. it's the law, there's no (more) room for debate, it's done.

so i'm asking myself - what the f*!@, why isn't somone moving them along? just inside the doors is a station employee. "are they allowed to smoke there?" i ask, all innocent like. "no, the law says they can't - but it's raining," she replied, as if that justifies it. yes, excuse me while i go take some drugs as i'm a bit down cause of the rain.

a bit of an exxageration, granted, but what if everyone to pick and choose which laws they will comply with, dependent on the weather? "oh, i shot him cause i was down as it was snowing." "oh officer, i only sold the 13 year olds beer as they were depressed at the cloudiness." i don't think these will wash somehow.

call me cranky, but i do plan to write a letter to the station manager. and perhaps the council - let the greedy bastards get fined (fare hikes are another sore point). i shall fight for my right not to die of passive smoking.