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by KYBrian
on Mon Oct 18, 2004 12:27 am |
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A couple of weeks ago an AM radio station here in Lexington KY had a forum on the six months of the smoking ban here, one of the if not the toughest one in the nation, in the heart of tobacco country no less. Probably 95% of the crowd was against the ban, they heard servers (like myself) tell stories of how our income has been slashed (I had to take on a part-time bank teller job to help make ends meet, before the ban I had extra money all the time). It was sad, they made up stat after stat saying how business is booming all over town. They get these stats because all of the business (take out, gas stations) are lumped together, and of course gasoline is about 80 cents a gallon more this year, so obviously sales revenue is more. How does gasoline compare with food you might ask? SO do we.
However we are getting some needed help. A local free weekly paper has a page every week with the city council candidates who want to overturn the ban, and there is a candidate or incumbent in all but one district that wants to do so. The one big dissapointment with me is there is no other organized effort. Also so far every fined business has settled with the city, who did drop a lot of fines as long as the establishment has no other violation, otherwise all fines are retroactive (so much for the restaurant associations promise to challenge this in court). As a smoker whose Kentucky family got so much of it's income from tobacco I feel really betrayed but the city and by other smokers not willing to fight. The last hope here is how the election goes. Louisville is being targeted now, with our vice mayor and Applebees franchise owner going there with totally false stats. I hope things are going better elsewhere in the country and would like anyone to share encouraging stories to make me feel better.
Thanks for y'alls time. |
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KYBrian
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Joined: May 11, 2004
Posts: 16
Location: Lexington KY
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by Tom
on Mon Oct 18, 2004 9:00 am |
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| I have a couple of encouraging stories from the garden state. Here too, gas went up 70% last year, and prices of prepared food only went up 10%. That's the biggest jump in inflation I've ever seen. I work in an office M-F, and I have to work in the food industry on weekends, and my income went up well over the 10% inflation we had last year. Another encouraging story, I was out the other night with a couple of friends from NY. They were so thrilled with the ability to smoke indoors. It's the greatest feeling to show NJ to a smoker from NY. |
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Tom
Smokers Rights Activist
Joined: Aug 24, 2003
Posts: 961
Location: The Kingdom of New Jersey
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by Rickslucky
on Mon Oct 18, 2004 9:06 pm |
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Rick here,
I'm not signed in as I have forgotten my password (I will try tomorrow BEFORE I start drinking). Anyhow, just wanted to let you know that LOUISIANA is still, for the most part, smoker friendly. There are some parts where I have a feeling it could be banned, my town being one of them. It is a town of snobby a-holes quite frankly (no, I'm not one of them)..... people think they're better than others b/c of where they live & if they have a stupid subdivision sticker on their vehicle. That is why I fear it may be banned (all the uppity people seem to get their drawers in a bunch when you go against the crowd & do your own thing).
Went to the casino's in Mississippi last Sat. THEY ARE STILL SMOKER FRIENDLY  And, I may add, profitable for me on the weekends
God, if they ever forbade casino's to serve liquor/allow smoking, I would have to say the anti's have started to force their [doodee] on another vice I hold dear : gambling & drinking.
Anyway, enough of my rant - just wanted to check in & let you know the South is still smoker friendly |
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Rickslucky
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by Tom
on Tue Oct 19, 2004 8:21 am |
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| That's encouraging that the south is still smoker friendly. I think we owe a lot of our freedom to Casinos in smoking states, and not the indian casinos, becasue they don't influence our laws. I say we just keep supporting casinos, and keep the bans off. NJ's hanging on as a smoker friendly state. The casinos help us resist joining the bandwagon that NY has created in the northeast. |
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Tom
Smokers Rights Activist
Joined: Aug 24, 2003
Posts: 961
Location: The Kingdom of New Jersey
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by KYBrian
on Tue Oct 26, 2004 12:41 am |
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Thanks for the encouragement. I guess Election Day will tell who's really happy and who is not Let's hope we all are happy.
--Brian |
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KYBrian
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Joined: May 11, 2004
Posts: 16
Location: Lexington KY
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by Tom
on Tue Oct 26, 2004 8:29 am |
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| I've seen Bush and Cheney both pictured with smokers. I've never seen Kerry in a smoking factory or restaurant in the US. Smoking's not a federal issue though, but I don't want a president from an anti-smoking state. |
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Tom
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Location: The Kingdom of New Jersey
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by chimney
on Mon Nov 01, 2004 2:03 pm |
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for the past 3 and a half years i have been smoking on a regular basis. this action that i have chosen is my choice and my right. considering i live in America i would like to think that this right would not be taken away from me. Granted I may only be 18 yrs old and may not be the most experienced on this subject but as far as im concerned i have rights too.
it should be accessible for both smokers and nonsmokers to enjoy things such as eating out our clubs. proper ventalation should be installed in order to make it a better place for everyone. i have a lot of friends that smoke and a lot that dont. we shouldnt be seperated because of this minute hobby.
i understand that 2nd hand smoke has its effects but in the same sense people shouldnt be seperated or excluded. I also think that rest./bar owners should fight back against the ban (NY). the amount of people in rest./bar has dramatically decreased since the ban
smokers need to stick together... get our rights back
there are more important things that need to be concentrated on then this.
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chimney
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by Guest
on Tue Nov 02, 2004 11:07 am |
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"....but in the same sense people shouldnt be seperated or excluded. I also think that rest./bar owners should fight back against the ban (NY). the amount of people in rest./bar has dramatically decreased since the ban...."
This is the main problem.
Bars and restaraunts are in the HOSPITALITY industry.
This means your dollar and the anti-smokers dollar have equal weight and therefore there is no room for discrimination but only for accomodation.
If this means high efficiency, separately ventilated and enclosed, designated smoking rooms or areas so that non-smokers will not be adversely affected (common whine is "Why should I breathe your smoke"), then so be it. For $10,000 or less, this can be possible and the problem would be solved.
Otherwise, if 3 out of 10 adults smoke, these businesses are cutting their own throats if they are INHOSPITABLE to 30% of the adult population.
If that is the case, then these businesses do not deserve support from smokers. Smokers should not attend at these businesses if they are forced outside. By involuntarily exiling themselves to only outdoor patios and picnic tables, they are aiding and abetting discrimination against themselves.
Furthermore, you are not attending these establishments but instead are being thrown outside like garbage. Simply put, people should not be, and must not permit themselves to be, treated in this despicable manner.
This is NOT HOSPITALITY, this is a perversion of HOSPITALITY into DISCRIMINATION.
Smokers have a weapon to fight this nonsense.
First and foremost is your wallet.
If you don't get the same HOSPITALITY service as an anti or non-smoker, then DO NOT GIVE/LEAVE A TIP for service, order the least expensive on the menu--water instead of coffee, beer, wine, or liquor, and get the heck out of there as fast as possible and tell them why.
They don't really want you there, just your money!
DO NOT SEND MONEY to charitable organizations that support the ban industry. Send their mail solicitations back to them with NO MONEY and comment on why you won't support them if they discriminate against you.
From there, you can develop your own personal strategy and let your "money do your talking" against discrimination.
With some $50 million adult smokers in the USA, this will have a huge impact.
As to all the smokers rights organizations and websites, it is high time you got together and began to speak with one voice and begin launching Class Action Lawsuits and start marching to the Courts for redress.
If you don't, you will be discriminated against and "put in the closet" just like the homosexuals were.
Take a page from the battle plan of the homosexuals and use it without let up. They put up such a good fight that they are succeeding in redefining "marriage", the foundation of all societies. This from 2 to 3% of the population, not almost 50 million smokers!
It is the irony of ironies that at the same time as homosexuality is being taken "out of the closet", smokers are increasingly "being forced into a closet".
Ironic that AIDS(a real, steadily climbing, and obvious present day epidemic) is almost ignored and lost in the fraudulent, 21st century, purely invented, epidemic that is Second Hand Smoke(SHS).
This is simply not right and should be fought on all fronts!
Smarten up Smokers Rights Groups, stop the incessant babbling and whining and take ACTION NOW NOT TOMORROW!!
BOYCOTT, SUE, PROTEST, whatever you can devise or think of that actually works, with ONE VOICE for almost 50 million adults affected by this blatant DISCRIMINATION. |
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