TafferLing on 23/6/2009 at 12:56
Welcome to Europe!
I live in Italy and I don't have to wash all my clothes everytime I set foot into a pub anymore! Smoking ban is the best thing.
SubJeff on 23/6/2009 at 13:05
Queue are you in the US? I thought smoking was banned in public places there. It is in England and now all the pubs smell of old beer and sweat.
Queue on 23/6/2009 at 13:08
SE-- Yes, and No. There are buildings where smoking is banned (like Governmental, hospitals, etc), but it's voluntary for places like restaurants, bars, parks, so forth.
D'Juhn Keep on 23/6/2009 at 13:28
Quote Posted by TafferLing
I don't have to wash all my clothes everytime I set foot into a pub anymore! Smoking ban is the best thing.
A thousand times this
Stitch on 23/6/2009 at 14:10
Quote Posted by Queue
SE-- Yes, and No. There are buildings where smoking is banned (like Governmental, hospitals, etc), but it's voluntary for places like restaurants, bars, parks, so forth.
True, but most major cities have smoking bans these days. I haven't been in a smoky bar in five years and I do a fair amount of travelling.
Ostriig on 23/6/2009 at 16:47
Fuck smoking bans. All public spaces such as bars, pubs, restaurants, etc. should be forced to provide separated indoors areas for smokers and non-smokers. In fact, they should only be forced to provide areas for non-smokers, whether they choose to cater to smokers too should be up to the establishment's owner. And when I say separated I mean walls and doors. If you've got a lobby or something in the way too, all the better. That's reasonable for everyone involved, unlike "go into the beer garden" in the middle of December. It won't get in your clothes, it won't affect your health. And if you go batshit over the faint smell of smoke that trickles through under the door when you go past it on your way to the can or something, fuck you, man up or stay home. Next thing you know they're gonna ban alcohol in bars because some people can't stand the smell of vodka.
Oh, on a separate note, what's up with smoking bans in UK train stations? I mean - above ground, open air train stations: no smoking.
Dia on 23/6/2009 at 17:09
Seconded.
In Illinois certain smoking bans are enforced only in certain cities. But there's no-smoking in every restaurant I've been to no matter the city. Out here if a bar was established before a certain date the bar can still allow smoking in the bar itself. But those are few and far between. There are still areas where you can smoke on the premises (such as businesses), but not in the building itself. I know in Chicago you can't just light up on the streets anymore, but have to go to a designated smoking area. Even then you get flack from non-smokers who insist on walking through the smoking area (like they've suddenly forgotten how to read signs) and bitching a bluestreak; even getting in your face and trying to cram facts, figures, and statistics about the perils of smoking down your throat.
Yeah; I smoke. I'll quit when I'm damn good & ready & not because someone keeps getting in my face about it. Smokers still have rights too (although they're dwindling more each year). I think the most moronic thing I've heard is that even smoking outdoors should be banned, regardless of the location, which includes on your own property (that should be a pretty can of worms if it ever comes about). People of that mindset should switch causes and lobby to ban petroleum based vehicle emissions (period) and go for instituting more environmentally safe modes of transportation, or force stricter regulations on carbon dioxide emissions from factories & businesses, etc. (seeing as how a certain president who shall remain nameless set us back 20 years on those regulations), or actively enforce bans on aerosol sprays (including insecticide, insect repellents, deodorants, hairspray, etc.) and all the other nasty things that help pollute our atmosphere. I'd say smoking cigarettes outdoors is the least offender when it comes to pollution. Oh yeah; and save the rainforests while you're at it.
Worst thing about the proposed ban is the rumor that menthol cigs will be among those banned because menthol is considered a flavor. Who knows? Might be a good time to quit. Or not.
Reason for the bile? Last week an old friend stopped by & brought one of her friends along. I'd never met the woman before & didn't know she was a non-smoker, however my friend had already informed her that I live in a smoking-allowed household. The non-smoker friend ended up getting in my face when I lit up, going all rabid & citing statistics about the hazards of smoking, etc. (I mean really! Do non-smokers actually believe that when they start lecturing smokers about the evils of smoking that that's the first time the smoker's ever heard it?? Srsly.) She actually had the balls to order me to put out my cig .... IN MY OWN FUCKING HOME!!!! Had I known beforehand that my friend's friend was a non-smoker I probably would have refrained from lighting up in her presence just out of consideration, but when she went all apeshit I decided otherwise. My house, my rules; at least til the government says otherwise and even then I'd like to see 'em enforce that one. I calmly asked my old friend if she wanted to give her friend a ride home or should I just call a taxi. The non-smoker went storming out of my house, which was a relief because it left my friend & I in peace for awhile.
Queue on 23/6/2009 at 19:20
I think Dia could use a cigarette.
RavynousHunter on 23/6/2009 at 20:31
Personally, I have only two rules regarding smoking:
1) Keep it away from the young'uns.
2) Don't treat me like less of a human when I tell you I don't smoke.
Personally, I can't stand that crap (referring to #2). I was at a PM5K concert some time back at a little bar called Juanita's. I went outside to grab something from my ride, and this guy asked me for a light. Of course, I said no. He got all smug and said "(pfft) Well, why not?" To which I responded, "...Beeecause I don't smoke?" He and his buddy chuckled and called me a loser, to which I retorted with the following, "I may be a loser, but at least I won't die by the time I'm 30."
I don't care if you smoke, just don't be an uptight ass about it.
