Mike: "I hate how smokers think they can just impose their dirty habit upon you, like their right to smoke supersedes your right to breathe fresh air. What if I had a dirty habit of picking my nose and FLINGING my boogers at people... and when people complain about it, I'll just say, 'Well don't stand by me then.' Really. Next time I see somebody smoking near me I'm going to flick boogers at them. "
The proposed laws would impose fines for smokers if they light up in public places, including bars and beaches. Since I have already heard all the arguments both for and against, and then witnessed the results of such legislation, I can effectively debunk every argument in favor of smoking in public places, and offer my progressive (liberal) state as a solid example of the positive outcomes of said legislation.
Argument: The first argument that gets thrown out is the one that says, "Bars will suffer a lack of business if smokers aren't allowed to light up inside."
Rebuttal: If all bars were required to enforce an indoor smoking ban, there's a good chance that people will stop drinking altogether, and every restaurant will be empty... no that's ridiculous. People will still go out to eat, and those who do, will not have acrid smoke invading their nostrils as they enjoy tuna sashimi. Smokers have sacrificed their tastebuds and sense of smell to their habit, and they forget that the people around them have perfectly functioning senses that are repulsed by the poison clouds they're emanating. The smoking ban did not cause NJ restaurants or bars to founder, instead, smokers have to take their smelly butts outside, where they are slightly less bothersome to others.
Argument: "The government shouldn't infringe upon the rights of the people by setting 'nanny laws' that needlessly intrude upon the right of a person to smoke."
Rebuttal: Step outside your hazy cloud and realize that if you smoke, you are a minority. Yes you have a right to smoke. You can do whatever you want to your own body. But we've also given our government the responsibility to protect us from each other. A husband who hits his wife will be put in jail. A smoker who is addicted to a deadly drug, should not be allowed to spew toxic gas to the rest of us who would like to avoid cancer.
One final note. Cigarettes will kill you. You may be able to rationalize your habit, but you can't rationalize with cancer. All the excuses in the world won't make a difference.
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Mike: "So I'm working in the smoking section tonight, right? And these two trashy looking people are both smoking and they have their infant on the table in a baby carrier, surrounded by smoke, and they're just smoking. Do you think they even care that their baby is being poisoned?"
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The recent hoopla over the proposed smoking ban in Surfside Beach, S.C. is eerily familiar to the one we suffered through in New Jersey last year. This is however, the south and everything happens slower here... (evolution for example, hasn't hit here yet i.e. Kansas).The proposed laws would impose fines for smokers if they light up in public places, including bars and beaches. Since I have already heard all the arguments both for and against, and then witnessed the results of such legislation, I can effectively debunk every argument in favor of smoking in public places, and offer my progressive (liberal) state as a solid example of the positive outcomes of said legislation.
Argument: The first argument that gets thrown out is the one that says, "Bars will suffer a lack of business if smokers aren't allowed to light up inside."
Rebuttal: If all bars were required to enforce an indoor smoking ban, there's a good chance that people will stop drinking altogether, and every restaurant will be empty... no that's ridiculous. People will still go out to eat, and those who do, will not have acrid smoke invading their nostrils as they enjoy tuna sashimi. Smokers have sacrificed their tastebuds and sense of smell to their habit, and they forget that the people around them have perfectly functioning senses that are repulsed by the poison clouds they're emanating. The smoking ban did not cause NJ restaurants or bars to founder, instead, smokers have to take their smelly butts outside, where they are slightly less bothersome to others.
Argument: "The government shouldn't infringe upon the rights of the people by setting 'nanny laws' that needlessly intrude upon the right of a person to smoke."
Rebuttal: Step outside your hazy cloud and realize that if you smoke, you are a minority. Yes you have a right to smoke. You can do whatever you want to your own body. But we've also given our government the responsibility to protect us from each other. A husband who hits his wife will be put in jail. A smoker who is addicted to a deadly drug, should not be allowed to spew toxic gas to the rest of us who would like to avoid cancer.
One final note. Cigarettes will kill you. You may be able to rationalize your habit, but you can't rationalize with cancer. All the excuses in the world won't make a difference.
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I was in Fat Tuesday's the other night. Inside a bar, and some drunk boy with a cigarette singes a hole in my arm as he's stumbling by. I have a nice red welt to remind me of the occasion.