Applebee's will ban smoking

Tribune Chronicle ^ | 05/11/04 | Staff, wire reports

[MissTargets]

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Applebee's restaurants in Niles and Boardman will be among those in Ohio that will go nonsmoking after a decision by Thomas and King, the nation's 11th-largest restaurant operator, the company announced Monday.

The policy at the Niles restaurant will take effect Monday and be implemented at all stores by month's end, the company said. Robert Holmes, 83, of Warren said he'd like to see other restaurants follow Applebee's lead in the no-smoking policy.

''Second-hand smoke is known to be bad for people,'' Holmes said Monday at the Eastwood Mall. ''Smoking spoils my dinner.''

Holmes, a former tobacco user, said he has eaten at Applebee's in Niles several times.

Besides Ohio, the smoking ban also will take effect at the franchise company's Applebee's and Johnny Carino's restaurants in Kentucky, Arizona, Pennsylvania and Indiana locations, the company said. Franchises owned by other operators would not be affected.

Mike Scanlon, Thomas and King's chairman and chief executive officer and vice-mayor of Lexington, was a vocal supporter of the city's indoor smoking ban that went into effect April 27. Scanlon said the timing of the company's action was coincidental.

''I can see both sides of the issue,'' Scanlon said. ''However, as a businessman, I need to listen to my customers and do what I believe is right for my business.

''While this decision will inconvenience a small percentage of our customers, I am certain that our new policy will attract many new customers who are seeking a smoke-free dining experience,'' he added.

Some of Thomas and King's nearly 80 restaurants already are smoke-free, including those in cities with municipal smoking bans such as Lexington and Tucson, Ariz. Scanlon said three restaurants the company has opened in the last year - one each in Arizona, Ohio and Kentucky - are smoke-free by choice.

Six months ago, the company banned smoking for employees. Scanlon said two of the company's nearly 6,000 workers quit over the issue.

Applebee's, based in Overland Park, Kansas, operates about one-third of its locations with the rest run as franchises.

[Rebelbase]

"black lung fools."

I've asked it before and i'll ask it again, I wonder how many tobacco champions here at FR have smoking related illnesses and how many have passed away from such illness?

[mbrito]

We nonsmokers really appreciate the smokers avoiding the nonsmoking restaurants. They usually smell like an ashtray, and that can be just as annoying. You know they can't stop even for an hour, even when they're eating. Ha! One reply said there are alot of smokers in Northern Ohio. Who wants to go into business with me selling Oxygen in Northern Ohio, there has got to be alot of C.O.P.D. and emphysema up there, or we could open a restaurant that has special little alcoves for people to park their oxygen bottles, so they wont get bumped in the isles. We could get rich. What a business opportunity

[kcvl]

Junk science? I guess what I observe in my work with people with lung cancer and emphysema is junk science also? I guess watching people gasp for breath in the process of dying is junk science? Just because some of you value your habit more than the lives of others should tell me all I need to know about many of you.

Tell that to the kids with breathing problems and allergies who live with parents who smoke. I guess they don't matter either. Anyone who wants to char their lungs, by all means, GO AHEAD!

[Just another Joe]

That is what you FR-smoking types wanted isn't it?

That's right, Mike, we want the business owner to be able to make the decision.
If Appleby's wants to go smoke free at ALL their locations, franchises included, I have no bone to pick with them.
It's a business decision.

That said, Mike Scanlon get's no points from me because he is a hypocrit.
He wants there to be freedom for him to decide, as a business owner, whether or not to allow smoking because, "However, as a businessman, I need to listen to my customers and do what I believe is right for my business."
However, Mr. Scanlon doesn't want to allow the business owner in Lexington, Kentucky to have that same right to make their own decision.
Mr. Scanlon is no more than a hypocritical antismoker in a position of semi-power.

[nevergore]

"When I inhale second hand smoke I cough and have trouble breathing.

There is your conclusive study that second hand smoke is dangerous."

Noooo...that just shows it cam be irritating to some....

Some people have worse breathing problems here in Atlanta during pollen season. As a result, should we cut down all the trees and plow under the flowers?

NeverGore :^)

[MissTargets]

The only thing worse than a "Holier Than Thou, Non-smoker" is a "Holier Than Thou, EX-smoker"

You got that right. He is 83 years old too! I would love to know when he quit smoking.

[nevergore]

Your answer was hyperbole, conjecture and emotion....

Then personal attack

Unfortunately, no fact.....

Again I challenge you to show a scientific study showing conclusively that second hand smoke presents a real danger to the general public.

NeverGore :^)

[kcvl]

We are in the healthcare business so I know how much medication is sold to people who smoke. It isn't a pretty sight. I also volunteer with our local Community Hospice. I can tell you that many of the patients would give anything to get a second chance at a smoke-free life.

[Just another Joe]

Junk science? I guess what I observe in my work with people with lung cancer and emphysema is junk science also?

No, it's not junk science, it's anecdotal evidence.
Is everyone you ever see with lung cancer and emphysema a smoker, or former smoker?

[kcvl]

You prove that it doesn't. I don't need a study to tell me that smoking is killing people. I WORK WITH IT EVERYDAY!

[kcvl]

Yes, most of them are (including my father who died of emphysema).

[Servant of the 9]

I have had my last meal at Applebees.

I am a non smoker, but I don't trust people that stupid and/or politically correct to prepare my food.

Second Hand Smoke my ass.

So9

[yarddog]

I used to work in an office where a couple of women were heavy smokers. Fortunately I only had to be in the office a couple of times a week but that smoke did bother me.

My wife could smell it on my clothes and so could I.

My best friend also worked in the same office. He both smoked and drank. He had enough common decency to not smoke in the office because he knew it bothered some people, and none of us ever mentioned it that I remember.

I believe in freedom and think outdoors is one thing but inside is another. Still don't think it is the government's business but indoor smokers are pretty rude imo.

[Just another Joe]

I don't need a study to tell me that smoking is killing people.

All right, let's come to the point.
Smoking is a statistical gamble.
ETS, secondhand smoke, has just as many scientific studies saying it isn't even a statistical gamble as it does saying it is, no matter how small, a statistical gamble.
How do you explain that?

[Trust but Verify]

I agree with you. Let the business owners decide. Government bans are obnoxious.

[Just another Joe]

Yes, most of them are

Most but not all?
Now, how many of them are nonsmokers that lived, or worked, with smokers?

[kcvl]

I used to work in an office where a couple of women were heavy smokers

Twelve long years across the desk from a woman who smoked three packs of unfiltered Camels a day. I smelled like an ashtray. My hair, my clothes, my skin reeked of smoke. I agree with you. It's one thing to smoke outside but it's entirely different when I am forced to inhale someone else's habit.

[Darnright]

>Some people have worse breathing problems here in Atlanta during pollen season. As a result, should we cut down all the trees and plow under the flowers? <

After this spring's whopping pollen harvest, I have found myself on three asthma inhalers, plus an antihistamine. Our land is covered with mature hardwoods, and pine trees.

I've been jokingly threatening to move to the Sahara, where there are no blasted trees.

[Phantom Lord]

I should be forced to inhale your smoke because?

Can you provide a couple examples for us when you were forced to inhale someones smoke?

[Don'tMessWithTexas]

If the owner or a restaurant wants to ban smoking in their establishment, that is their choice, but don't use the heavy hand of govmint to force other owners to adopt your ban.

Likewise, smokers should be free to smoke where they wish to do so. If you are a non-smoker you can go to a smoke free establishment.

However, smokers should not force the non-smoking population to pick up the costs associate with your habit. Shifting the cost of one's habit to others that do not engage in your habit should never be allowed.