Joker, Smoker (Updated)

"Joke joke" wrote - AGAIN! Seems I hit a nerve. But that's okay. At least "joke joke" gets kudos for writing comments that are civil and show some cogent thought. That is appreciated around here, and hey, maybe I'm wrong. Joke joke, you get the last word (see bottom of this post), and sincere thanks for writing.

This morning's post about smoke from a burning 50-gallon drum at Loyola Beach brought the comment below. The commenter, "joke joke," apparently missed the point of the post. I wrote, "Heavy smoke that smelled of burning plastic engulfed a good portion of the beach front. The receptacles are supposed to be for hot coals only, but people commonly put other trash into them." My point was about air pollution at the park, specifically smoke. I also noted the "immense amount of smoke put out by people allowed to cook over open fires in the parks."

"Joke joke" somehow thought I was writing about garbage and litter strewn in the park, which I was not. "Joke joke" did not address the air pollution/smoke issue in the park, caused by burning refuse and open fire cooking. Perhaps he/she was only joking.

On Mon, 6/30/08, joke joke wrote:

From: joke joke
Subject: no smoking on beaches
To: The Bench
Date: Monday, June 30, 2008, 2:44 PM

If you recall the the [sic] reasoning [sic] was not because of smoke, but because of all the extra trash from cigarette butts. Tons of trash was [sic] collected at the beaches from cigarette butts alone.

Another great blog story missing the point.

From: The Bench
To: "joke joke"

Hi joke joke,

The smoke had the distinctive burning-plastic smell. You're right about cigarette butts being a litter problem, but my post was about stuff burning in the can and smelling of plastic. It was definitely not cigarette butts burning that made the smell I encountered. Thanks for your comment, even though it completely missed the point of the post you were commenting on.

P.S. - Joke joke, if my story missed the point, why would you call it "another great blog story?"

Joke joke responds to my response:

Maybe you should consider a new writing style and being better informed. I read your post and your complaint about the type of smoke and its smell. "The rule is silly when you consider the immense amount of smoke put out by people allowed to cook over open fires in the parks". It was wrong to assert some type of hypocritical rules. You need to learn how to tie legitimate points together and then people will better undertsand the point you are trying to make. You missed the point since the no smoking policy is in regards to littering and should not been used to make your point.