Mulligan Stewart
BABACA, FL – Cigar aficionado Rick Marsho was enjoying an El Cabrón on the patio of The Red Tide Grill, in defiance of the restaurant’s ban on smoking within 25 yards of the premises.
A couple seated nearby alerted Marsho to the infraction, and response was to apologize to them and move to the end of the parking lot farthest from the building.
“He just said, ‘Oh, I am so sorry, hope I didn’t cause you any inconvenience,’ and he left,” said Sondra Pattinson, who was eating dinner at the time with her husband Hugh. “Unsarcastically, I might add.” Both were puzzled at the ease, politeness, and swiftness of Marsho’s actions.
“He drives an enormous diesel truck with hunting and fishing decals all over it,” said Pattinson, “He wears his sunglasses backwards on his neck while he’s talking on speakerphone about his golf handicap. I thought for sure when Hugh said ‘Excuse me sir,’ that he was going to square off and make it our problem.”
Marsho continued smoking the cigar away and downwind from the patio, and the Pattinsons finished their meal contentedly. The situation did not escalate, and staff from the restaurant were not brought into the interaction.
