Moody Center
Amused That Club Owners Are Worried
RECEIVED Mon., April 18, 2005
Put this in your pipe,
I find it amusing to see some local bar owners band together to fight the oncoming smoking ban as if the government is trying to squeeze their doors shut under the flimsy guise of public safety.
With 60 or more years of research and factual data proving the dangers of smoking and secondhand smoking, this is like fighting the seat belt law.
Personally, I do not care if people smoke. My grandmother smoked and I loved her right up until her final struggled breath; she died slow from emphysema. But when I am out, it is unsettling when someone lights up one of their 20 cent cigarettes that have all of the rich tobacco flavor and smell of a Canadian tire fire, and blow it into my lungs, clothes, and hair (my beautiful hair). I never quite understood a smoker's inherent right to influence all of the shared air in a room, but I usually just try not to breathe in.
In other cities the same laws and ordinances have been passed and bar owners pushed back with the same fears of being run out of business. Most bars closing during or after the smoking ban were plagued with poor business or poor business practices before that.
In many cases, after the smoke cleared, bars saw an upswing in their weekly business. In Austin, where one can step outside unmolested by the weather 300-plus days a year, I think most well-run establishments will fare well.
Smoking is a dirty habit that well suits many people as does drinking, but at least my Jim and Ginger will not end up in your liver.
I find it amusing to see some local bar owners band together to fight the oncoming smoking ban as if the government is trying to squeeze their doors shut under the flimsy guise of public safety.
With 60 or more years of research and factual data proving the dangers of smoking and secondhand smoking, this is like fighting the seat belt law.
Personally, I do not care if people smoke. My grandmother smoked and I loved her right up until her final struggled breath; she died slow from emphysema. But when I am out, it is unsettling when someone lights up one of their 20 cent cigarettes that have all of the rich tobacco flavor and smell of a Canadian tire fire, and blow it into my lungs, clothes, and hair (my beautiful hair). I never quite understood a smoker's inherent right to influence all of the shared air in a room, but I usually just try not to breathe in.
In other cities the same laws and ordinances have been passed and bar owners pushed back with the same fears of being run out of business. Most bars closing during or after the smoking ban were plagued with poor business or poor business practices before that.
In many cases, after the smoke cleared, bars saw an upswing in their weekly business. In Austin, where one can step outside unmolested by the weather 300-plus days a year, I think most well-run establishments will fare well.
Smoking is a dirty habit that well suits many people as does drinking, but at least my Jim and Ginger will not end up in your liver.
Andrew Wegrzyn