- ``All I want to do is do what I do and everybody leave me alone,'' she said.
That's a two-way street. Being left alone inside a self-contained smoker's air-purifier-respirator suit would be the just thing to do.
Posted on 07/02/2005 4:55:22 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
MADISON, Wis. (AP) Jeff Bakken has waited for this.
Whenever he goes out for a drink in Madison, the 44-year-old teacher and runner from Monona has sucked in secondhand smoke until now.
The city enacted an ordinance that bans smoking in bars and restaurants Friday. First-time violators face up to $125 in fines if they don't quit or leave. A second offense carries a maximum $500 fine. About 20 other Wisconsin cities have some kind of anti-smoking ban. Appleton's ban, which also extends to bars and restaurants, also took effect Friday.
In Madison, the ban created a firestorm of controversy, with smokers accusing the City Council of trying to run their lives and bar owners fretting over lost customers. Already a faction of aldermen wants to repeal the ban, and state lawmakers are threatening to put a stop to smoking bans.
``We went too far,'' said Alderman Paul Skidmore, a sponsor of the council resolution to restore smoking in bars and eateries.
But George Twigg, a spokesman for Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, said the ban will protect the health of bar and restaurant employees as well as customers.
Right on, said Bakken. He showed up at the Argus pub Friday with ``Smoke Free in Mad City 2005'' handwritten in marker on his shirt. He sat at the bar while a group of smokers sat outside in a sidewalk patio.
``That's where we like them. Outside,'' Bakken said. ``It's about their nasty habit imposing on my health.''
Tell that to Rachel Dulik, a 29-year-old Madison screenprinter who was forced to light up outside the Argus for the first time Friday.
``All I want to do is do what I do and everybody leave me alone,'' she said.
Brian Haltinner, 41, runs the Maduro cigar bar near the state Capitol make that the ex-cigar bar. He doesn't know how he'll stay in business.
The City Council considered a measure exempting cigar bars from the ban, but the move didn't fly. He thinks he can hold on with outdoor seating until fall. He doesn't know what will happen when winter comes.
Being a cigar bar ``was the niche we carved out over the last seven years. We've got to find something that makes us different from everyone else,'' Haltinner said.
The City Council could consider the resolution to wipe out the smoking ban at a meeting Tuesday. Skidmore said cigarettes are legal and people can choose whether to go into a smoky bar or restaurant.
Republican legislators, meanwhile, are trying to pass a bill that would permit smoking in taverns and restaurant bars statewide. The measure would still ban smoking in restaurant dining areas, but prohibit local governments from enacting stricter measures.
Lobbyists for the Wisconsin Tavern League pushed the bill, saying it would create a level playing field for bars and restaurants rather than a patchwork of ordinances.
The Assembly passed the measure, which still needs approval from the state Senate and Gov. Jim Doyle.
Doyle spokeswoman Melanie Fonder said the governor doesn't support the bill.
``This would be a step backward for public health,'' Fonder said.
For now, Caroline Marks, a 32-year-old bartender at the Great Dane Pub and Brewing Co. in Madison, couldn't be happier. No more picking up cigarette butts, dumping out dirty ashtrays or going home reeking of smoke.
``It will be nice to be able to go out and not have to take a shower when you come back,'' she said.
^ =
On the Net:
City of Madison: http://www.ci.madison.wi.us
The same people who cry about "choice" in killing unborn children want to stick their noses into what legal product people consume on private property.
He [Bakken] showed up at the Argus pub Friday... He sat at the bar while a group of smokers sat outside in a sidewalk patio.
"That´s where we like them. Outside," Bakken said. "It´s about their nasty habit imposing on my health."
I'm bettin' that this guy's one mean drunk. LOL.
I'm bettin this guy has very few friends.
Lawmakers' job is to write laws. If they continue to do their job, then we will have less and less freedoms as a result of myriad of useless laws.
ping
A regular Libertarian in the making.
There was a comedian I heard named Auggie Smith who did a routine that started something like, "Look, bartender, all I want to do is get drunk, pick up a woman, drive her home without my seatbelt, have unprotected sex with her, and THIS guy's blowin' smoke in my face." Cracked me up.
"Whenever he goes out for a drink in Madison, the 44-year-old teacher and runner from Monona has sucked in secondhand smoke until now."
Anyone care to post the unemployment figures for these areas as of now so they can be compared to what they'll be in a year?
Hello! You stuck at work as well?
Who's going to protect me from the dangers of second-hand drivel from guys like Jeff Bakken?
Nope---ole Mears is retired and just bangin' away until I get ready to go to bed.
The Denver daughter is visiting but she is out this evening.
Great. I'll try to keep Denver sane until she returns.
And also please try to keep Denver smoking until my next visit.
I'll do my best.
No one is forcing people go work there and no one if forcing people to frequent any businesses.
Nice! And I bet Brakken has some habits that WE would find disgusting! I can almost SMELL him!
........Brakken
What're you doing up so late?
``It will be nice to be able to go out and not have to take a shower when you come back,'' she said.
Then go get a job at MacDonald's. Smoke free plus I hear they serve a nice hot apple pie!!! (I hope her tips dwindle down to nothing!)
I can't sleep. Strange for me!
Well, it's my last night of graves and when I get home, I'll be transferring the tobacco plants to the yard.
Busy day tomorrow.
I can't believe I'm still up to catch this..........but now I've got to call it a night. I'm far too tired to comment on some of what I've read on this thread - I don't want to get banned.
I'll be offline until sometime Monday night - maybe, it might be more like Tuesday........
You all have a great weekend.
You too. G'nite.
Illegal to smoke, one more freedom evaporated. It is still ok the kill your unborn child. What kind of morals has this country got left???
Sorry, Folks, this has nothing to do with Wisconsin, but our illustrious grinning idiot, Bob "tax" Taft, our resident RHINO & worst Guv in the history of the state, just raised cig taxes by 70 cents (after he got it raised several years ago), and I'm slightly Pi**%d. Thought you might be interested in this site-particularly those who live in Ohio-although I guess you can sign it anyway, even if you aren't. :) I'm posting this on every thread I can.
http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/ImpeachTaft
She, did you ever read this?
http://www.davehitt.com/2004/name_three.html
Throw the bum out! My friends in that state are totally fed up with this RINO!!!
Fudge packing if just fine too but oh boy! Just don't smoke. heh!
I sent it on the Samatha. Maybe she can use it in the Newsleter!!!
That should have been IS!!! It's early and I am still on my first cup!
Just think, 40 years ago it was illegal to smoke inside a doctor's office while performing an abortion. Now it is illegal to smoke inside a doctor's office while performing an abortion. What has changed?
I've been up all night on this last day of the graveyard.
Things have been quiet. Area secure.
I have never smoked, can't stand the smell of it, don't understand why people do it, don't like it when people blow it in my face, etc. BUT I'm not in favor of banning it either. One point worth mentioning is that banning it inside bars means that people come outside and smoke, thus exposing the people who don't frequent bars to the smoke.
Illegal to smoke, one more freedom evaporated. It is still ok the kill your unborn child.
They do contradict each other.
Thank you.
``It's about their nasty habit imposing on my health.''
YEA it's real healthy sitting in a bar getting DRUNK too isn't it ? you non freedom moron !
It would be nice if you took a shower before you went out that way the place wouldn't smell like skunk roadkill!
I teach school too and I live in an area where not a lot of people smoke. HOWEVER, we tell the kids that smoking is an adult decision and that just because someone smokes, it doesn't make them a bad person. My next door neighbor is a wonderful mom. I had her son in my class two years ago and you could not have asked for a more well-behaved boy.
LEGALIZED FORCED PROHABITION !
That should be prohibition. I agree, we've been down that road before.
Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner!
Leni
A privately owned business aimed specifically at a clientelle who enjoy smoking cigars is now forced to abandon the only reason he set up business for.
What are the chances the city of do-gooders are going to take up the slack and help him recoup his lost clientelle? Slim and none and slim left town.....
America, the home of the free......
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