Smoke Free Bars

[Gannon]

I have a devil of a time finding anywhere to go with my Thinking Friend from NYC who had to finally endure hypnosis to quit. I don't know whatever suggestion his hypnotist dropped into his noggin, but he gets physically ill whenever he is near cigarette smoke.

Another unintended consequence.


I think it is funny when smokers get all indignant over their supposed 'right' to smoke.

We don't give everyone else the 'right' to shit all over the place, and that is what they do to inside air...anytime the air is trapped in a building it is SHIT UPON by smokers with their exhales, but MUCH WORSE is the lingering smoke when those casket nails just sit there smoldering in the ash tray between drags.


Somehow Murphy always sends it directly to anyone nearby who may be affected...and usually in direct proportion to how negatively! So, Linda, it is somehow likely that you get that cloud of smoke from this corollary to Murphy's Law...

[R8RBOB]

Hopefully, every bar, restaurant and casino will be smoke-free. It would have been easy for the state to ban smoking through-out but they are gutless to act because the casinos would cry. I appreciate those owners who have decided that they aren't going to wait for the state to act and ban smoking on their own. As a former smoker, I respect the smoker but I don't think an non-smoker should have to share your square. Take it outside.

[Gannon]

I just remembered that it took me almost three months to stop asking for the non-smoking section when I moved to Los Angeles in 2000! It was as great to never worry about sitting next to an addicted, ignorant, self-hating chimney as it was to discover those outlaw bars that allowed it on the sly. MOST of the time, I could get on without it, but those few exceptions when hanging in a smokey billiards bar were just fine for this ex-militant non-smoker.


I do NOT put occasional smokers into that addicted, ignorant, self-hating chimney group, btw...nor any smoker who cares to ask those around them if it is OK to light up in closed airspaces. I almost ALWAYS say yes...and thank them for the courtesy!



Cheers!

[CornBot]

Tomorrow at 6:34 am, it will be exactly two years since I quit smoking. Not that I've been counting the minutes. I quit for the same reasons as Linda from Detroit, though my dx was COPD on top of asthma. That, and because I just could not afford to pay for the habit anymore.

I swore I would not become one of the crabby, self-righteous jerky types who pontificate and testify on the evils and odors of smoking, and mostly I've succeeded. Smoking is, after all, still a legal activity, and any adult who wants to can do it without my advice. But OMG I cannot breathe where someone is smoking, even outdoors. For the longest time, I would hold my breath passing someone smoking for fear I would otherwise follow their blue plume like they were the pied piper. Turns out I was wrong. I have actually felt sick to my stomach when I unexpectedly catch a strong whiff.

This is good reinforcement to keep me 'smober,' I guess, but my social life has suffered terribly. I've saved a ton o' money because cigarette prices have gone up a few times since July 2007 and I don't go out much anymore... a number of my friends still smoke and gravitate towards places that still allow it. The more places that go smoke-free, the better it will be for selfish old me, IMO.

[R8RBOB]

It has been seven years for me since my last cigarette. 17 years I was a proud smoker. I was one of people who believed that smokers should have rights then I moved to California and I actually didn't mind going outside to smoke. I welcomed the fresh air when lighting up.

[Evelyn]

Congrats, Combot and R8RBOB! When New Mexico banned smoking in bars and restaurants, I found it much easier to quit.

Didn't the State Bar in Detroit go smoke-free years ago? I remember that they set up an outdoor smoking section during concerts.