Smoking

--- On Wed, 5/16/12, Sibyl Smirl <polycarpa3@ckt.net> wrote:
>
> NO place allows indoor smoking now, at least not around
> here.  It seems to be the quintessential sin. 
> When we use the Community Building for voting, there's no
> smoking even on the grounds! (about an acre, plenty of air
> volume to dilute any of that evil "second-hand smoke")

Yes and no. I am allergic to cigarette smoke and I suffer from chronic bronchial asthma. Any smoke can set me off, even outdoors. Just walking down the street past smokers can be problematic; I tend to hold my breath.
>
> I don't think it's better. 

See, and I think it's wonderful. Two different people, two different perspectives.

In the early '90s, Boulder, Colorado, banned smoking in all indoor public places. Well, the city council did. The tavern and bar owners complained, stating they'd go out of business. Therefore, the city relented, sort of. They put it on the November ballot and allowed the populace to decide.

Guess what? The populace overwhelmingly voted to ban smoking. The bar and tavern owners announced how they'd go out of business in three days etc. as everyone in Boulder would head off to nearby towns to smoke and drink.

A year later, those bar and tavern owners were not only still in business, but their business was better than ever before. They honestly were surprised. What happened? The non-smokers returned to said bars and taverns. I was one of them. There was a basement bar on Pearl Street that had live music -- decent national acts. I couldn't attend any of those gigs due to all of the smoke. After the ban, I did. And so did many other people.

When I moved to Britain, I was astounded by all of the smoke, and there were many pubs or concert venues we couldn't even enter because they were so smokey. I welcomed the smoking ban.

Breathing. What a lovely concept! :)

Ellen