Gripe of the Day: Smoky Elevators

This morning I got into the elevator to go to the gym and there was the distinct smell of cigarette smoke.

Although there is a sign in elevators here that have a diagonal line going through a cigarette and "No Smoking" in Chinese and English, I've seen men walk in with a lit cigarette in hand as they ride up or down. They aren't puffing on it, but in a confined space, the smell is bad enough.

Can they not butt out before going into an elevator? Do they really have to have a white stick in their hands or mouths every waking moment?

Obviously the "No Smoking" signs are a passive deterrent in China where most people think they are above the rules or that rules are meant to be broken.

So why not install smoke detectors inside elevators, just like the toilets in airplanes?

That way when someone walks into an elevator with a lit cigarette, the smoke detector goes off and that immediately stops the elevator. Then the accused can turn beet red and everyone else can stare at them in anger because no one will be able to get out until the elevator is manually started up again.

Pretty soon no one will bring a lit cigarette into an elevator and we can all breathe a relatively clean sigh of relief.