I have a good analogy for everyone...Music, LOUD Music, Gangsta bass happy rap, etc. We could even narrow it down a little more, to just loud noise. How many people have been pulled over for loud exhaust?

The reason I bring up loud noise is that OTHER people can hear YOUR noise. (Just like secondhand smoke)

There are soooo many laws about loud music, including restricting you from playing it too loud after a certain hour at YOUR HOME!

My point is that you should lighten up a bit. They are not trying to take your rights away. They are trying to make public places a litlle more comfortable for everyone. Sure there are some hard liners but they are few relatively.

It is no myth that smoking HELPS to raise health care costs. There are also a lot of other things that raise them to. Obesity I believe is number one right now.

One more point I just thought of. Do we all agree that smoking is a health risk to those exposed to it? Well if you answered yes to this which I am sure you have. We have to treat smoking the way we/have treated other known carcinogens. Here is a short list; Lead in paint, lead in gas, smog control on vehicles, mercury, cfc's, etc, etc.

Do you believe it is a companys/persons right to put lots of lead in their product which is specifically designed for your kids room even though they know it's proven to be harmfull?

Look I am not a non-smoking wacko, I just want to make sure everyone looks at all angles and not just what pisses them off.

Smoke-um if ya got-um!

 

Yeah I agree with Dennis,

It is all of my Parents' fault for all of the ailments I can think of....

I would not have the problems I have, if Dad would have kept it in his pants.. I mean that if I wasn't taught Bacon & Eggs was good for you and veggies was rabbit food. I am not sure that I would of learned about cholesterol. I may not have even realized that fire was hot. Shame on your parents for having you, even without all of their faults . I think I should give all of my money to the Catholic church to help end the suffering of the priests. Maybe the only fish I ever caught was wrapped in plsatic . I might have thought that cows only gave milk and not hamburgers. My Playboy magazines would be sex ed. and not fantasy. How dare my parents giving me my hindsight for their lack of foresight. Don't blame me, just put my parents in prison.

..or just give me money and I will feel better...for now...???

 

I drive a F-250 thanks

And my point was that there is nothing is the kitchen as harmful as second hand smoke save sucking on the lime away. I dont give a crap who smoke. Thats why my restaraunt has a ventilation system to suck that pollution out of the restaraunt and seperates smokers from non smokers with two serperate bar areas.

 

my company sent me to Pheniox on a convention and paired me up with a guy from Indianapolis in the hotel suite...now I'm a ex smoker and I have never seen any one get up every hour during the night and light up and not remember it the next day when I mentioned something about it...my wife(who smokes also) just about fell over when she opened up my suitcase from the smell of the ciggaretts and I swear,even though I have'nt smoked in over 25 years,i actually went through the DT's like I did when I quit smoking before that lasted about a week...P.S. my wife can't smoke in the house or the trucks,I figured that would get her to quit but 17 years later she still braves the heat,wind,cold and rain to huff that chit

 

I keep forgetting we are neighbors Swofford. I can't recall a place in Sarasota with seperate bar areas.

So you have an F-250, that's even better. Where in the hell do you buy them? I had bad luck with Sarasota Ford and even worse with Autoway.

Do you own the restaurant you cook at?

I guess everyone can agree about cigarettes being unhealthy. I will never understand why it is so popular to hate smoking when there are so many more important issues to be concerned with. 10, 15 or 20 years ago people avoided smokers, now those same people have "bowed up" to smokers. It has become popular, I suppose.

I will be quitting in a few months anyway. I just hope the next thing to be systematically banned is not something I really enjoy.

Or maybe it's time to get a 10,000 watt system installed in the Tundra and start blaring Trick Daddy. Nobody gets in trouble for that.

 

Im from TX, havent bought anything here, Im at Epicurean Life. You probably know Freds restaraunt or Mortons Market.

 

I'm probably setting myself up for ridicule but, I'll take a chance.

I tried to quit many times and failed.
I found something that worked.
I don't know why it worked.
I'm just pretty sure I'm a non-smoker now.

I got hypnotized.
The program lasted about two months.
It cost $507, if it only works for 5 months I broke even.

I had no withdrawls, no cravings. It was the easiest period of cessation I ever went through.

I didn't light up after the first session.
The following sessions were reinforcement.

It doesn't work for everyone.
A passed a woman who was in the program before me and she reeked.

Anyway, if you want to quit and you have the money to spend on it, I recommend it.

If you do this, check out their references, I went to a national chain. I am not talking about having your brother-in-law dangling a watch in your face saying, "You is gettin' sleepy...".

 

Raoul,

Seriously? I never know when you are pulling our chains.

I am glad for any one who is able to quit and not go back to it. Never smoked myself, but when I was a teenager, I remember my Dad quiting and then catching him sneaking a smoke in the basement. So I know it is a hard habit to break.


Got a question, and no, I am not pulling your chain. Did you ever hear that they can tell who can be hypnotized by how you clasp you hands together? Depends on which thumb is on top. Always wondered if that was true. If you don't mind my asking, is your right thumb or left thumb on top when you clasp your hands?

 

Left thumb on top, whatever that means.

They did give me a little demo before I stroked the check, to see if I was susceptible to such treatment. With my eyes closed and my hands extended in front of me, they told me helium balloons were tied to one hand and heavy books were in the other. After awhile I opened my eyes and the 'book' hand was about 10 inches lower than the 'balloon' hand. Other stuff was going on but that was the jist of it.

As I said before, I jerk everybodys chain around here and I know this revelation is open season on me but, I know how hard it is to quit and if someone out there is ready and has tried before and failed then this might help them.

I was a skeptic too. You have no idea what it took to get 5 bills out of me.

 

I understand about those five bills! But if it helped you to quit it was sure a good investment.

Interesting on the balloon book thing. On the hand clasp idea-left thumb up was supposed to be a good candidate, right thumb up was not. I am a right thumb...but then I am bassackwards on most things!

 

... yet regulation ensures that you can make your third trip to the buffet in a smoke free environment.

I can certainly understand the dangers of smoking, and the effect it has on others when second hand smoke is present. My wife and I both smoke, outside, because we have a three year old we don't wish to expose to the smoke.

The only problem I have with the restaurant situation is that the individual busines owner should be allowed to choose IMO. There is nothing requiring this person to serve a healthy menu is there? On the flip side I would have no problem with them being required to display a "smoking" sign to inform non smokers so they have a choice before they enter.


The over eating habits of some people no doubt make unhealthy foods more readily available, yet I don't think anything is being forced upon me. A non smoker would have the same power in simply choosing not to dine in a restaurant that allows smoking.

Malls, outdoor events, and anything else with large crowd requires nothing more than courtesy on the part of the smokers. I'll be the first to admit all of them aren't but I've also seen non smokers just as inconsiderate.

 

signmaster makes some good points. I would point out that alot of these wacked out non-smokers (the ones who wish to FORCE their choice on others) are usally liberals, and moderate liberals. These same people SCREAM all the time about freedom of choice.

My questions to these nut cases is WHAT HAPPEN to freedom of choice? Like signmaster pointed out, people, who do not smoke, can decide on their own if they want to enter a restaurant that allows smoking. They, the non-smokers don't have to eat their. It is NOT their right to eat there in the first place. It is a privledge that the restaurant owner bestows upon anyone entering their business.

It is like anything else you get some people hell bent on FORCING their choices on others because they THINK it is right. They don't know if it is or not, only THINK, usally without logic, but feel they know better then anyone else.

Now you have people that want to sue fast food because they are getting fat. That makes absolutely NO SENSE at all. It is not, say McDonalds, fault that someone CHOICES to eat 3 bigmacs a day, but you have some morons who again without any LOGIC think they know whats best for everyone.

These, wacked out non-smokers, and I am not talking non-smokers in general, just the nut cases with no logic. Anyway these wacked out ones need to SHUT UP about us smokers since we pay a much BIGGER share of local, city, and federal taxes.

 

if you smoke dont go to delaware!, they banned smoking in ALL public places(yes bars too). doesnt make sense 'cause they have the cheapest cig prices, and no sales tax on top of that!

 

i understand smoking is a nasty habit, as do most people. however when they make a law like this it takes away a freedom. before if you went to a restaurant and didn't like the smell you could move to a different table or request a table far away from smoking areas. the smoker no longer has a choice. yes i smoke, however not in my house,truck,office or in restaurants. i always choose to sit in non-smoking because i don't like to smell it while eating. but i haven't had a problem at all with smelling smoke in non smoking.
as far as me being a factor in raising health costs. i don't think so. the last time i went to a doctor for a medical reason was 4 years ago, i strained my back. certainly because of smoking. my last physical was 1 year ago, i nearly had to go out to my truck and get my smokes to prove to them i smoked because of my pulse, blood pressure and lungs being so good. of course that could be because i regularly excercise. maybe the real cost factors of insurance are those who spend too much time in front of the tv saying man i gotta get in shape one of these days. those are the ones who are at high risk for many diseases. not to mention those who have genetics on their side to cause diseases, and of course as previously mentioned those with kids who think the doctors name is uncle bob because they see him so often.
maybe the couch potatoes and hereditary disease carriers and parents in general should all pay more for health costs.
finally, i grew up in a house where my dad smoked 2 packs a day, plus pipes and cigars now and then. sorry no pnemonia,asthma or any other respiratory diseases here to support the it's my parents fault theory.
i agree as previously posted lets take away the booze. i hate going to restaurants only to listen to loud mouth drunks who don't know how loud they are. having them spill drinks on me, or pulling out of the parking lot where they can damage my vehicle. nope i think it's time we do something about this, after all it does cause liver damage and brain cell loss. how many people here have not lost at least one person to alcohol.

 

Three cheers for wildchild...

Fact - More people die due to alcohol related incidents then ALL combined for smoking or second hand (theory) smoke.

So people should stop crying about smokers and the smoke and worry about the bigger problems first. Once you have taken care of all the bigger problems above smoking then come after us smokers in like 150 years.

As far as people who can't taste their food due to someones smoke is NOT due to someones smoke its due to they have a medical condition and need to see a doctor about their problem. These people are the ones that will raise medical cost MUCH more then smokers. Of course it's not due to a medical condition its due to a problem with their brain so they need to see a shrink. Perhaps a box of Kleenex would be cheaper then the shrink, and it would help reduce medical cost...