The Auto Motion Car show is one of the bigger classic car shows in Eastern Ontario. 

I was invited to attend, and brought my car to the show. The top was down as the weather was truly gorgeous! Perfect for a car show!

The usual procedure after arriving and registering is to "detail" your car.  It took me a little over an hour to drive to Brockville and since my car isn't a trailer queen, some last minute cleanups were required.  Taking care of the bugs on the windshield, dust, etc.

After I had finished, I took the lawn chair out of the trunk and set it up behind my car. The only thing behind me was the river.  A cool breeze blew towards the river.  I asked the owners of the cars next to me if they'd mind my smoking a cigar.

No one objected.

I sat down with a cup of Timmie's finest and my Habana.

By the third puff, one of the organizers of the event walked over demanding I put the cigar out.

I looked around, I noticed many others smoking. I asked if there was any law against smoking in this park.  The man simply walked away, ignoring my question.  To be honest, I put the incident out of my mind and met the public, who are always curious and ask many questions about the cars.

About an hour later, the same man returned with two police officers.  They immediately began questioning me about a "disturbance" I had allegedly created.  I replied by giving the police my version of the earlier event. Other car owners nearby walked over and gave witness accounts as to the veracity of my side of the event.

The police then called over the organizer and informed him that he was contrary to some sort of code regarding public mischief.  They gave him a stern lecture and threatened him with a citation.

Word got around quickly.  Soon I was besieged by other car owners who smoke, telling me their stories of harassment at their work, homes, etc.

The big irony came later, when it was time for the prizes to be handed out.  I was flabbergasted to get the prize for the "owners favourite", which is voted on by your peers.  The man who had to hand me the prize was none other than the man who had called the police on me earlier.

I cannot emphasize this enough. We have rights. We have liberties. We need to stand up and protect them before all of them are gone.

Doc Watson
hans_asselbergs@hotmail.com
02 Aug 2005
Brockville, Ontario

(c) Copyright 2005 The Smoker's Club, Inc. Please repost with link back to this original article.