Posted on 03/06/2005 7:57:33 AM PST by SheLion
To be fair, wasn't Ms. Shields around 12 years-old when she made that comment?
A few years ago in Denver all the bar owners were forced to pay out of pocket to install "smoke-eater" ventilation systems which ran upwards of $10,000. Most of them were still paying them off when Denver tried to force a comprehensive smoking bad through the city council. It was barely shot down but as soon as they can put it to a vote it will pass.
Voters always vote for smoking bans because the majority of voters do not smoke.
My wife and I might prefer smoke-free bars and restaurants, but quite frankly, there aren't any good ones. Bars and restuarants are typically fragile, anyway.
Anyone who has paid attention has noticed that more often than not you'll see the same building used for one restaurant, then another, as various new management comes in to try their luck. Even slight changes in menu, decor, prices, or staff can doom a previously successful restaurant or bar.
...And a smoking ban isn't a "slight change." Yeah, not smelling Marlboros all night long might be preferable, unless the option is losing the restaurant or the bar altogether.
And if I can't smoke the occassional cigar at one such establishment, then I'll probably spend my money elsewhere. In fact, even IF I never smoke at a restaurant, it matters that I could or could not.
So these legislative smoking bans have got to be crushing the businesses that get unfairly trampled by such state mandates. Some percentage of old customers are either going elsewhere, or smoking (and eating and drinking) at home, and that's a percentage of high-spending customers that few bars or restaurants can survive without. These are marginal businesses, so it *matters* if they lose some margin of their customers.
And once restuarants start going out of business due to the bans, then the non-smokers have fewer eating options as well. So everybody suffers.
The general non-smoking public is buffaloed by the anti's. They do not realize how this is going to hurt the business owners and how many will have to close over time.
When only 25-30% of the people smoke in a state, we lose out to polls and votes every time. The general public needs to realize that the anti's are putting a stranglehold on private business's and this is not right.
This should be left up to the business owner and his patrons. Not the government and not the City Councils!
I can't decide whether the smoking ban or the tolls roads will hurt Austin more...either way, I'm looking for a way outta here.
Spent a weekend at the Raddison in Lexington, Ky recently. Typical small town owned by it's universities with a smoking ban. The hotel bar was deserted,I felt kinda bad waking the hotel bartender up every night to use his wine key. But my wife and I had a smoking room, so where do you think we relaxed.
The smoking bans are a no-win situation. Read the post up above about how the bans are killing off private business's. And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
Spent a weekend at the Raddison in Lexington, Ky recently. Typical small town owned by it's universities with a smoking ban. The hotel bar was deserted,I felt kinda bad waking the hotel bartender up every night to use his wine key. But my wife and I had a smoking room, so where do you think we relaxed.
Well, I won't spend my money in a place that can't or won't accommodate me. That is my time and my dime. Why should I go out and pay for that personal abuse.
And when the smokers are all gone, government's need to spend will not decrease. I hope it goes well. To make it really interesting, maybe the tobacco tax can start to drop about the same time that Social Security runs out of money.
And when the smokers are all gone, government's need to spend will not decrease. I hope it goes well. To make it really interesting, maybe the tobacco tax can start to drop about the same time that Social Security runs out of money.
What makes you think that smokers will decline? hehe!
The government is already trying to figure out how to tax gun owners. Next, it will be alcohol again. It's never ending.
We used to travel to Lexington to visit family a lot. It's a gorgeous state with all the white fences and the race tracks.
Lexington has changed that much??
Yes! The anti's might LIKE that idea. heh! :)
Funny, Kentucky and Tennessee used to be tobacco states. They used to make a lot of their income from that.
Were we reared by the same parents? Sounds like it.
Put your feet on the sofa or furniture, BAM!
"So many things irritate me about men today",..So many things about almost everybody irritates the heck out of me today. I'm afraid I'm going to get in a fight for telling someone to shut up on their cell phone. Besides the ones driving 20 mph in the fast lane on the highway while on the phone. Do people ever use their rear view mirrors?
Good manners never hurt anyone.
Next, they'll try and ban your outdoor BBQ grill. If they try that in Texas and the South, there's gonna be gunplay.
As FReeper gatherings have proven for years (I remember wondering if ANYONE would smoke there), smokers are nothing but trouble.
This way, they all have to stay home or stand outside shouting into the wind where they belong.
What's wrong? You having a bad night? There was no reason on earth for you to come in here and post that.
You're an ugly hateful person.
She's just trolling for an arguement. It's best to ignore her. That way she can go "sell crazy someplace else"
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