[ButlerianJihad]

In the mid-1990s I attended a convention, and on the first morning, I grabbed a blueberry muffin as a snack. The coastal summertime weather was pleasant, without much wind. It was an hour-long wait or more. The line was outdoors and serpentine, so there were people on all sides.

I was sitting down and eating the muffin, while a dude was standing in front of me, chatting and smoking a cigarette, and mostly holding the lit cigarette behind his back and in front of my face.

I believe that “No Smoking” signs were posted around the convention center. There were no ashtrays anywhere. So as I finished eating, I had the wrapper in my hand: a thick oven-safe wax paper. So wrapped up my fingers, took aim, and snatched the cigarette away, cherry and all, snuffing it with the wrapper.

The smoker guy was surprised and gave me a dirty look. He didn’t light another. I mentioned it later to my friends, who said that I deserved to get punched.