CS>*** Quoting Ron Taylor from a message to Carol Shenkenberger ***
CS>RT> In my part of the country, a totally smoke free restaurant is almost
  >RT> unheard of.  At the one good seafood place that is smoke free, there i
  >RT> up to an hour wait for a table most nights. On Friday and Saturday,
  >RT> you'd better have a reservation.
CS>Interesting!  Everyplace I have lived in the last 10 years, seems to be
  >different.  What part of the country are you from? Cant tell from your
  >tagline.
I live in Alabama and frequently travel all the states from Florida to
Virginia to Louisiana.  The states that I've found the worst for
non-smokers are the Carolinas, Virginia, and Kentucky.  It seems that
anyone who opposes tobacco usage in any form are not welcome there.  I
suppose thats because of the high influence of the tobacco industry in
that area.
  >RT> Problem is, the smoke goes through the wall into the non-smoking
  >RT> section.
CS>Sadly, I have seen that in some places.  I'm more used to California where
  >the  law (before the smoke free came in) had most establishments have
  >literally  separate AC systems and solid walls between the two locations.
That is an acceptable compromise to me.  I have no problem with anyone
smoking as long as I don't have to participate.
CS>CS>California Law makes it all smoke-free.
  >RT> I applaud them.  Some day, ALL states will follow their example.
CS>I dont mind it too much, but I hope they dont go as far as CA did.  CA 
ven
  > outlawed *outdoor* smoking sections, even if on the opposite side of the
  >*building* from the non-smoking outdoor section.  Tis a bit overboard...
Being so adamantly anti-smoking, I think a total ban is acceptable.
The only place that should be sacred is one's home.  _There_, you have a
right to do (IMO) what you will, as you see fit.  My choice is to not
visit if I disagree.
CS>  >populace  smokes, and that 20% simply didnt dine out as often when they
  >  >changed the laws  there.  Restraunts, many of them, just couldnt 
urvive
  >an
  >  >almost 20% loss of  business.
CS>RT> With all respect Carol, I have a problem believing that.  Do you have
  >RT> a cite to back up those statistics and the effects of the new law?
CS>Newspapers, check San Diego Tribune, 1995 (early).  I lived there, saw it
  >happen.  You can see the start of it in the OCT 1994 papers.
CS>Seems to not ave been a 'boycott' but just a tendancy to not bother to eat
  >out  as often.
That was three to four years ago.  Am I to believe that now, there are
no good restaurants left in California?  That the  industry folded
because of the smoke-free laws?
CS>Personally, I was not bothered by it, until they got to the point where I
  >couldnt even step *outside* for a smoke at the sysop breakfasts (we'd chat
  >and  have fun for 3-4 hours and tip *heavily* for staying so long).
Sadly, most who are forced to step outside stand as near the door as
possible, as if to intentionally force the non-smoker to walk through a
cloud of smoke to get to the door.  I've had smokers quite forcefully
blow smoke in my direction when I indicated a displeasure at it.  They
take some kind of pleasure in the fact that they are now "outside" and
immune to the prohibitive laws inside.  The would punish me for my
part in the laws that force them outside. These few "militant" smokers
are the ones who bring about the laws.
CS>Laws on smoking in restraunts?  They vary.  I like the old CA version.
  >Separeate AC type units, solid walls, and allowed to have a smoking
  >section, if  you fit the rules.
As long as it works, I can live with this concept.
CS>You have a *right* to not breathe my smoke.  You dont have a right to
  >prevent  me from smoking when the conditions make it reasonable.
We agree as long as "reasonable" means that I can participate in any
publicly available activity that you can and am _TOTALLY_ free of
cigarette smoke while doing so.
For example, I had to stop for gasoline this weekend.  The convenience
store where I stopped had four guys hanging around the counter talking
to the girl working there.  All four were smoking heavily and apparently
had been for quite some time.  I had no choice but to endure the
atmosphere while I paid for my gas.  That isn't reasonable.
I umpired a girls softball game Friday night.  Park rules prohibit
participants from smoking on the field, but several fans gathered by
the fence behind home plate, smoking.  I had to either hold my breath or
inhale the smoke coming through the fence.  That isn't reasonable.
(Continued to next message)
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