Yes, I Would Mind Not Smoking
I mentioned last week that the monorail initiative failed to pass, and in that entry's comments, Rob mentioned the smoking initiative passing...
I am a smoker. Have been for just over 15 years now. I do plan on quitting someday, but that day hasn't arrived, assuming it will.
So, yes, the lungers won out. Personally, I saw the writing on the wall around the time NYC changed its laws.
What does stick in my craw about all of this, is the fact that the new law is being put into effect exactly a month after it was voted in. The bastards could've waited until New Year's at least, but no. No, the lungers want their change and they want it noooow, and so on December 8th the last cigarette will be ground on the ashtray and let the healthy living begin.
I'm not going to waste a lot of breath on the various lunger arguments, because these almost always are from petulant little pink lungers, and invariably begin or end with the statement "it's not fair!!!"
- "I'm allergic to smoke, and I--" so don't go to smoking establishments.
- "But my friends all go to bars and place--" your friends smoke and you want to force them to go outside so that you'll be happy?
- "But if I want to see a band I like, I can only go to places where--" You know, find a non-smoking establishment you like to hang out in, and bitch to the owners/promoters that you'd like to see a band there. The bands probably won't mind playing there, why the fuck punish us for our lifestyle choice?
Not to say that all of the arguments are baseless...I know most workers would prefer not to work in smoking bars/restaurants. I know that businesses in NYC and Cali have thrived since passing the ban, etc. etc. etc.
It's just that I mind having my choice taken away from me. I'm not looking forward to having to step into the windy/drizzly Seattle cold so I could have my nicofix (yeah yeah, I won't smoke as much, which is healthier, yadda; let me jerk off some more).
Ultimately, the question becomes "why isn't it the establishment owner's choice?"
But, again, whatever. It's done, and there's nothing I can currently do about it, so I'll deal.
Besides, I know that with this ban a bunch of smoking speakeasies will open up, and the cool shit will be brought there, along with the smokers. Just like prohibition. So, I still end up winning.
I just have one thing to say to the lungers: Leave Las Vegas Fucking Alone, You Fucking Assholes. I am willing to kill over this. Don't fuck with me.
posted by the beige one @ 2:02 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
At trivia last night @ Clever Dunne's (where nearly everyone smokes), a friend of mine and I were discussing the various loopholes to be exploited in the smoking ban. The foremost of which being that you can smoke within 25 feet of a door, window or vent so long as you're not stationary.
Pace back and forth and you're golden.
This conjured hilarious images of, a month from now, 40-50 smokers pacing back and forth in front of the irish bar between rounds of trivia.
yeah, the 25 foot bit is more than insipid...how the hell are they going to enforce this? I guess they're really concerned with people building decks outside of their businesses or something.
Still, what the fuck?
This thing sucks, but Cali figured it out. When I was living for a while in SF, it wasn't that hard to find places to smoke, and I hope (though we are the kind of city that is likely full of snitches) we can do that same.
What gets me is that this is just another step in the NannyState. Laws made for our own good - chilling how farthat can go, eh? In the His Dark Materials trilogy, an arm of the state decides that cutting out kids' sould might protect them from Original Sin.
Can't smoke pot at all. Can't smoke cigs in public. Can't kill myself when the cancer inevitably sets in.
Just shows people don't care about freedom. They only care about their freedom, about having their sensibilities affirmed.
Was mulling this over more on the way to work this evening, and the thing that really chaps my ass is that the law seems to me to have been written to score not just a legislative victory, but also a moral victory. Certainly that is what politicians that supported it hoped, and seems evident in the rush to enact it without concern for those it affects.
I walked past a pinch-faced woman this evening on my way to the bus, and could almost hear her thinking "I can't wait until the smoking ban goes into effect and you have to keep that filthy habit off my streets."
"But, lady, I'll still be allowed to smoke on the friggin' street. It isn't an illegal activity."
An audible sniff, drooping averted eyes. "Not yet, anyway."
Bastards. Just makes me want to smoke more. They are almost making sparking a butt a political statement.
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