Daxie

So the smoking ban is officaly in effect It went into effect at midnight... what does this mean you ask?

NO smoking in any public place... including BARS!!!! What were these idiots thinking when they voted for that? Do they not realize how much damage it will do to certian types of businesses?

OK, I can see it in office buildings, government buildings, movie theaters.... maybe even resturants... but bars? bowling allies? COME ON!! Shit man! drinking and smoking go hand in hand!

Part of the deal on this law is that you can't even somke within 20 ft. of a doorway of a public building and when you're talking about living in a city, that pretty much means you can't smoke outside on the sidewalk.

Bar owners have been bitching about this since November because they know they're going to loose customers over this. Even some resturant owners are complaining as well.

Some (private) companies have even adopted this smoking ban. Where I work (in a warehouse mind you) they went around tonight putting up 'no smoking' signs on all the outside doors so you can't even have a cig at break time because there isn't a place 20 ft. from a door that we're allowed to stand and smoke.... (20 ft. from the door means you're in the middle of the trucking yard)... yeah, this is going to be a fun week... 500 people working 10-12 hour shifts being told they can't smoke anywhere on the property.

This is pure bullshit!!! It just pisses me off that these 'goody-goody holier than thou' freaks are getting away with taking more and more of our freedom from us.

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>Hagar: "Before we go into battle today let me remind you what we're fighting for! We're fighting for justice! We're fighting for equality! What could be more important than that?"

>>Eddie: "How about a steady paycheck, health insurance and a good retirement plan?"

Brikar

I'm sorry you're upset about it. I'm not a smoker, I don't really like the smell when I'm out at bars or whatever, but I did recognize that it is a right for the smokers. But it's also a right for the non-smokers to go somewhere they feel comfortable... I think ti's a sticky situation with no clear solution, because whatever happens, someone's going to be pissed off.

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Bean

In the middle of the heated debate, the beaver pushes through the crowd with a piece of board under his arm, a few nails sticking out of his mouth, and a hammer. He nails the board to the wall just over the bar to reveal a no smoking sign. He then quickly retreats to the bathroom to makes plans for the new wallpaper...

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"I haven't faced death. I've cheated death. I've tricked my way out of death and patted myself on the back for my ingenuity. I know nothing."

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Arik

One of my few clear memories of my childhood involved going to a baseball game and sitting behind this guy who smoked cigars through the entire game. The wind blew his smoke back at me.

I was miserable the entire game. And it wasn't because I was watching baseball.

I agree that there are some places where smoking shouldn't be allowed. However, a bar is a privately owned establishment, and it should be up to the owners. Because it's still legal.

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Bean

Well what I think is the best part of it all, is that when asked why they don't cordone off a section of thebars in town here for smoking, the mentality was that "Well what if a non smoker wants to go into that part of the bar, he shouldn't be expected to breathe in second hand smoke." And it was the same mentality when people suggested building little "bus stop like" shelters in behind buildings so smokers wouldn't have to stand in the snow or the rain. "What if a non smoker wants to go in there?"

It's truly sad that it's become socially acceptable to not only discriminate against smokers in public quite vocally, but that the government seems to be on a new campaign to promote this hatred of smokers, and punish us for what is a perfectly legal choice.

__________________
"I haven't faced death. I've cheated death. I've tricked my way out of death and patted myself on the back for my ingenuity. I know nothing."

--James T. Kirk

Daxie

First off.... the Beaver better stay in the bathroom because I have a board with nails IN it to bash over his head!

That's another thing that bothers me about all this. We have sections just for the smokers, yet we get this "what if a non-smoker wants to go in that section" crap... well, if a non-smoker wants to go in there, fine but he/she knows and understands that there are smokers in that area and if they don't want to be "bothered" by the second-hand smoke, they shouldn't go in there.

Years ago (when I was 16-17) I worked as a waitress/hostess. Whenever there was a wait, we'd ask the customer if they wanted smoking or non. A lot of times they'd say it doesn't matter and when they got sat in the smoking section (because that's what came available first) they'd bitch about being there. Well, if it matters to you, next time you're asked "smoking or non" SAY NON YOU STUPID BITCH! when you say "it doesn't matter" or "first available" means that there's a 50/50 chance you'll get stuck in the smoking section.

It's really gettinng rediculious how much is being striped away from us. Think about it... we can't discuss religion in schools or the work place and GOD FORBID if someone actually prays, we hae the goody-goodies picketing places like Planned Parenthood because they perform abortions (that should be an individual choice) and adult bookstores... if you're offended by adult material don't go in.

Before Christmas, there was a report on The Daily Buzz (a news show for those of you who don't receive it) that a school closed down their Christmas play, A Christmas Carrol because of Tiny Tim's line "and God bless each and every one of us" because parets were bitching that it preached christianity.

And of course there's the age old debate of what you can and can't show on tv because this or that offends a portion of people who may or may not want to wantch that show.... again, if it offends you, change the channel.

So, back to this smoking and "health" issues... here's my stand on it: every time you take a breath of air, you are inhaling more polutants into your lungs than you do from second-hand smoke.

And now for my foot in the dumbass bitching well: ecoli and mad cow disses... I don't want to get it, so let's ban beef. Salmenilla; I don't want to get that either, so lets ban chicken eggs. Mercury poisoning... ban fish. Some people are allergic to shellfish... ban lobster, crab legs, and shrimp. I'm scared of bees... kill them all.

My point is that if enough crackpots get behind any one thing because they personally don't like it, then it will be taken away from those of us who watch, drink, smoke, eat, particapate in, explore or experience as a normal, or acceptable way of life.

It truly is my belief that the road we're headding towards will someday bring us to the point where we'll need to show papers to cross state lines. Anyone remember something simiular from their history books?

__________________
>Hagar: "Before we go into battle today let me remind you what we're fighting for! We're fighting for justice! We're fighting for equality! What could be more important than that?"

>>Eddie: "How about a steady paycheck, health insurance and a good retirement plan?"

Arik

Bullshit.

I went to a public school. There were posters up all over: "Pray at the flagpole". We had religous debates in class. I had one class where the teacher brought in a Catholic priest to lead a discussion on the Bible.

I'm sick of hearing about how 'God has been kicked out of our schools'. He hasn't been. And anybody who says differently is selling something.

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The writers of this post apologize for you being too stupid to understand it.

Daxie

And how long ago was this?

When I was in school you could do that sort of thing, but not now.

I have 3 cousins, 15 and 10 who all go to diffrent schools. In their schools they are not allowed to express religon of any kind.

My 15 yr. old has told me of kids getting sent home because they were wearing t-shirts that were of a religous nature. At one of my 10 yr. old's school a group of kids were trying to get an after school bible study program started and was told they couldn't have it on school grounds because it "violated school policy". My other 10 yr. old was set home with a fourm notice from the school one day to all parents that bibles and/or religious pamphlets were not allowed on school property.

As little as a year ago, people were protesting that the term "one nation under God" be removed from the pledge of aledgence because it's "offensive" to students who don't worship "our" God.

It's not a sales pitch, it's just a statement of fact.

__________________
>Hagar: "Before we go into battle today let me remind you what we're fighting for! We're fighting for justice! We're fighting for equality! What could be more important than that?"

>>Eddie: "How about a steady paycheck, health insurance and a good retirement plan?"

Bean

And reardless of which one of you is right, I agree that God doesn't belong in the public education system. This is where those gooddy two shoes that preach all the anit smoking crap, get their claws into your kids before they're old enough to formulate a belief of their own.

If my children want to woship God, or call themselves Christians, I have no quarrel with that, but I'll be damned if I'm gonna let a 5 to 10 year old make that choice based on something he heard in English class, and not on genuine thought about the subject.

God has no place in school. It's a small jumo from God in school, to religious fanatacism becoming acceptable. Just look at what it's come to in the US, you have a *ahem* "leader" who at one point spoke of going on crusades through the middle east. Now, I'm not a huge intellect of Amercian politics, but isn't the separation of Church and the state somewhat of an important subject down there?

Point is, the more people sit back and say "Oh let them have prayer in school, don't rock the boat" the more acceptable other oversights become. And when you stop caring, or start thinking "Well, someone else will make a decision, so I don't have to" you're a few short legths of track away from rail cars, and jack boots.

__________________
"I haven't faced death. I've cheated death. I've tricked my way out of death and patted myself on the back for my ingenuity. I know nothing."

--James T. Kirk

Gitch

One thing I would say about segregating a restaurant etc into smoking/non-smoking sections is that it doesn't work properly. Unless you design the entire air conditioning system so that the smoke remains solely in that area, its going to drift. As someone one said, would you swim in a public pool with a designated pissing area where you can relieve yourself without getting out?

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