I absolutely despise smoking. How about the folks that exhale their cancerous smoke as they walk into the doors of the restaurant while throwing their cigarette on the ground. Even worse, parents who hold their kid’s hand in the same hand as their cigarette. Moms and Dads … your kid’s cannot choose their parents but you can choose to help them breathe clean air. I Especially despise smoke when I am eating. There is nothing that disgusts me more. Look, I’m all for people’s right to choose and for as little government involvement as possible. Having said that, I also feel that one of the government’s main responsibilities is to protect its citizens. I would just like to take my family out to a place to eat without having to worry about walking through the smoking section or have the ineffective wall of house plants most places use to separate the bar and non-smoking section.
A number of states and/or cities have banned smoking in public places, mostly office buildings. I can’t remember the last time I saw a number of kids running around in office buildings with their parents. Smokers feel that others are showing a sense of malevolence against them, by forcing them to either smoke outside or in designated areas. Once more, their choice to smoke, not mine. Where are the priorities? Kids or Parents (or let me call it like I see it … rather than “parents” I should say … those that are able to buy cigarettes and vote).
Again, nothing against restaurant entrepreneurs, I would’t want to tell them how to run their business. I just feel that they need to decide if they are going to allow smoking or none at all, no more of this middle ground stuff! That way, everyone is happy. Its become too political. Politicians don’t want to piss off voters, so they just dance around the issue, especially in tobacco states. According to the 2004 Zagat Survey, which polled nearly 30,000 New York City restaurant patrons, by a margin of almost 6 to 1, respondents said that they eat out more often now because of the city’s smoke-free policy.
For now, we can only wait and hope that something is going to happen in our state. Meanwhile, we will continue to eat out and hope that the smoke from the cancer sticks will not flow towards us and ruin our meal.
