One of my students told me this story last night. He's in law enforcement.

We're in the middle of a drought and several wildfires have already hit. The fire conditions are extreme.

Enter our hero, a man driving a pickup with a bunch of furniture in the back. He tosses a lit cigarette out the window. It blows into the truck and lights a bed on fire. In his haste to pull over, he hits a car. When he stops, he throws the burning bed to the ground - on dry grass instead of the pavement, thus starting a wildfire.

The police and fire department respond. In the end, it took units from 8 departments to put out the fire. The police are writing up the charges, starting with the cigarette. Under these conditions, that alone can result in a fine up to $1500, possible jail time, AND he's liable for the costs of the fire department response. It gets better.

In the confusion (and after the police have his tag and license numbers), he slips away. He's now facing charges of evading the police and hit & run. There's an arrest warrant out for him.

Here's the kicker: when asked why he didn't just put out his cigarette in his ash tray, his response was, "It'd make the truck stink."

I guess he thought his smoking in the truck made it smell good. For that lame reason, he's now facing thousands of dollars in fines and a good chance of jail time. He's the living embodiment of a bumper sticker I saw the other day: "Being stupid should hurt."