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I don't smoke. In fact, I'm allergic to cigarette smoke. So, I have to put my libertarian leanings aside when talking about the Austin smoking ban, but not really. For one, any true libertarian should think like this: I can do whatever I want as long as it does not harm another person.
Anyone who would fight this kind of thinking must be too stupid to read the warning on the pack of their cigarettes, which states: This shit is gonna kill you and everyone around you. But this is a free country! Yeah, until you take a gun and start shooting everyone.
The smoking ban is one of the reason I love living in Austin. I used to live in Wichita Falls, TX. You could smoke anywhere. You could walk up to a baby and blow smoke directly into its face and no one would care. Everytime you would leave your house, you'd come home reeking of smoke and you'd have to take a shower to get the smell out of your hair. You couldn't just leave your dirty clothes in the hamper either because the smell would still fill up your room. If I didn't do this, I'd wake up the next morning with a sinus infection.
If it weren't for the smoking ban, I would probably never leave my house or I'd move somewhere where they have a smoking ban. So, I'm very thankful that this is in place.
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I think for those who still believe that public smoking bans biolate individual constitutional rights need to consider this: would you really go back to the days when smoking was rampant in workplaces (e.g., office buildings, warehouses, factory floors)? Oh really, you wouldn't? Well, bars and restuarants are also places of employment. Why is the health of a waitress less important than that of a middle manager? Answer: it's not.
I am all for limited government, but there are reasons to have a legislative body. This is one of them.
Philosophically I don't support the smoking ban, but I love it.
The argument that randall makes is false - no one forces an employee to work anywhere.
But its undeniably nicer now to be able to go to restaurants and bars and not have to breathe/smell smoke.
Now if we can just get mandatory sentencing for those smokers who think the world is their ashtray and just pitch their butts on the ground.
I have to disagree. It's not about where you choose to work, it's about discriminating against one workplace over another.
If you say it's unconstitutional to ban smoking in bars (e.g., let the business owners decide), then you have to apply that to every other place of employment. Otherwise, you are simply discriminating on who gets to choose and who does not.
I would also beg to differ on the "choice" issue. Even in a robust economy, some people do not have a choice of where they work. If you, for instance, are a college student trying to pay for your education or a divorced mother of two without a college degree, you don't exactly have your pick of jobs. Often the only jobs available are in the service industry, especially (in the case of the student) if you can't work normal business hours. Is their health somehow more expendable?
It's easy to pontificate on the smoking ban when you are not a bar owner or an employee. It's not your livelihood on the line. Here's a recent quote from an Austin bartender posted on the Statesman message board:
"Point and case to my last comment: My bar sales last week compared to this week so far have been cut in half. Last Monday I rang 900.00 in sales and the week before I rang 1400.00. last night I rang 400.00 (luckily) in sales. Who exactly does this smoking ban benefit?? I had at least 10 people have one drink and leave my bar last night just because they couldn’t smoke. Dear Lord, I can’t wait to see next week!"
Here's an earlier comment from the same bartender:
"I am a bartender and support my family with my income that was greatly reduced when this crap came around in the first place! All the non-smokers that were supposed to make up for the smokers that were going other places never showed up to my bar (unless the were drinking juice and tipping .50 because they were only there to sing Kareoke anyway). Well, I guess it’s back to penny pinching and collecting my change from the 3 non-smoking juice drinkers that’ll be coming out to party! Whoopie!!"
I seriously doubt all the smokers are going home and/or to Round Rock to drink. Sounds like the guy's bar you quoted must suck because all the bars I go to seem to have plenty of customers.
I don't know if anyone is still checking this posting, but hey...I'll post something anyway. :)
First of all, I spent 15 years making my living in bars, so I do understand the POV. I was just as big of an advocate for a smoking ban then; it's just that it was not politically popular.
I have the same experience: there has been no dropoff in any place I've seen. Bars aren't closing in droves. I'm not sure what to make of the quote you reprinted. He seems to be talking about this week vs. 2 weeks ago. Umm...last time I looked the smoking ban started well over a year ago. I don't get the point. My guess is that he's a smoker.
By the way, if we're talking about "choice of jobs", then you can apply the same argument to the bartender: no one's forcing him to work there. But it's not really that simple, is it?
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