The photo to the right shows one of the benches on the western end of Duke Gardens. It's one of the few benches I've never sat on in all the times I've been to Duke Gardens. Unless I have some major problem with walking, I doubt I'll ever sit there.
You see, it's close to one of the back entrances to one of the Duke Hospital buildings. The photo to the right is taken about ten to twenty steps beyond the one to the left. Duke Hospital made the hospital and grounds totally smoke-free five years ago. As a result, one of the closest places that the employees in that building can go for a cigarette is this bench. The black post is for cigarettes. It replaces an older, pyramidal shaped one, which replaced the sight of cigarette butts on the ground. Even when the bench is empty, the area around it smells like cigarettes.
Since I have asthma, I certainly appreciate policies which prevent smoking indoors. Once, when I was having really bad allergies while on a summer job during college, someone smoking a cigar came into the very small copier room I was working in. I had to get out right away because I felt like passing out.
On the other hand, the bench doesn't bother me. I can hold my breath, if I need to, for the brief time it takes me to walk by it. I know that quitting smoking can be very difficult to do.
However, when Duke Hospital came up with their smoking policy, I don't think they intended part of Duke Gardens to become the de facto designated smoking area.
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