In this day and age, it's shocking when people miss the obvious because they aren't paying attention to the world around them. We have so many distractions around us all the time, yet there are some things that we hold as self-evident; laws that we assume everyone knows and obeys.
Like smoking laws.
Sometimes people feel they're "above" the law, or that they deserve an exception because of who they are or their position in society. Laws exist because we, as a society, have decided to restrict certain behaviors and activities for what we feel to be the protection and betterment of society as a whole. Many are what we would consider just plain common sense.
So today, I have a story. It's a story of a man who felt he was above the law. Or, at least, that the laws regarding smoking did not apply to him. In our current society, we accept that it's unhealthy to smoke, and that it's wrong to do so inside buildings. This gentleman walked into a retail store smoking a lit cigar. He wasn't just holding a cigar in his mouth, like a placebo. No, he had it lit and was puffing away like a working chimney. Smoking indoors has been illegal for more than a decade at this point. He wasn't about to let that stop him from enjoying his cigar, however.
"Excuse me, sir," an employee said, approaching him.
"Yeah? What?"
"I'm sorry to trouble you, but I'm afraid you're going to have to either put out your cigar or take it outside."
"What! Why? It's a free country! I'm allowed to smoke!"
"Yes, sir, you are. However, we don't allow smoking inside our store."
"That's nonsense!"
"No, sir, it's actually the law. Please, put out your cigar."
"This is so much bullsh**! There's no law!"
Things just went downhill from there, to the point that he was eventually evicted from the store. He not only denied the existence of the law, but assumed he would be exempt from it once he was informed. His refusal to comply with the employee's request that he extinguish his cigar led to a confrontation that became one step shy of violent, which is why he was finally removed.
It should never have come to that.
Laws exist for a reason. They are there to protect us, and to clearly show what the punishments are when we break them. I'm not saying there's no situation where breaking the law isn't the best option; I'm certain there are instances aplenty of individuals breaking laws to save lives. This, however, wasn't a case of someone risking just punishment to save a life. It was just a guy who refused to admit he wasn't allowed to smoke inside a store, even after being told it wasn't allowed. He felt he deserved to continue despite laws to the contrary, and then he felt the employees were unjustly persecuting him for it. He was wrong.
No one is above the law, and ignorance is not an adequate defense.