Additions for the Banned List

Re “LAX Sidewalks Must Be Smoke-Free,” Voices, July 21: You have got to be kidding. Marc Strassman wants to ban smokers who are outside the terminal? Strassman does “not need or want to be confronted by hordes of cigarette-smoking strangers”? I am a nonsmoker who flies often and has never, ever seen a horde of cigarette-smoking strangers, nor has this mythical horde ever impeded my progress or stopped me from reaching any destination. It is truly a reach to describe the lower terminals at LAX as “about as outdoors” as a covered sports stadium. When you can see the sky and feel the temperature and the wind, you’re outside, Mr. Strassman. What is clear from Strassman’s pursed-lip rant is that he would like to remove all things from life that have any chance of bothering him.

In that spirit, I would like to legally ban the “hordes of soup-slurping strangers” that I encounter when I go to restaurants, as well as the “hordes of ice-rattling strangers” that I encounter at cocktail parties. Both are very annoying to me personally and I don’t see any way of stopping them short of a law. I should not have to put up with this! In the future, could you please use the limited space in your paper to address issues that actually exist?

Kevin Kildow

Los Angeles

*

I couldn’t agree with Strassman more; however, I think the restrictions should be taken further to ensure that such daily annoyances protect high-minded citizens such as Strassman. Therefore, I have a few other behaviors that need to be banned ASAP.

* Make it a law that all obese people keep their legs covered and outlaw them from wearing T-shirts that show their unsightly girth.

* Make it a crime to wear cheap cologne. When I walk through the terminals, I sometimes get offended by the scent.

* Ban all fast food from inside and outside the airport; seeing these obese people chomp down on this noxious-smelling food really offends me.

* Ban all citizens in wheelchairs, walkers, etc. They slow the flow of traffic and they might get in the way of preposterous travelers such as Strassman.

* Last but not least, we need to ban the cars and buses too. I am sure the scents and fumes from the engines offend the writer as well.

My only advice to this gentleman is to earn enough money and charter a private jet out of Van Nuys; there are fewer of these unattractive and obnoxious people flying from that airport.

David Oliver

Sherman Oaks

*

Strassman railed against allowing smoking on the sidewalks of LAX. I am sure that I am no more tolerant of secondhand tobacco smoke than Strassman, but I find the problem of smoking in that area to be negligible compared to the pollution from all the motor vehicles. This is many orders of magnitude greater than that from smoking. His commentary is like complaining about the mosquitoes while a grizzly bear is chewing off your leg.

Robert E. Spenger

Fullerton