As a person who has never smoked a cigarette in his life and who spent his youth coughing out the smoke inhaled from his parents’ Salems (Mom) and Camels (Dad), I have often remained silent on the issue of the smoking bans in bars and restaurants, even though my Liberaltarian political position makes me uneasy in regard to the government telling business owners how to run their own businesses when there is less than ample proof that society would break down without said intervention.
In my perfect world, all smokers and smoking establishments would just wake up tomorrow and say “Enough! Let’s make that one guy in Indianapolis really happy and make Smoke Free America a reality.”
I, of course, have no illusions that this will ever happen. However, every so often there is good news on the “people freely choosing to go Smoke Free” front. Earlier this week New Albanian Brewing Company decided to make their Pizzeria and Public House 100 per cent smoke free. From the Potable Curmudgeon blog:
This is our choice, and not one mandated by local government, although I concede it’s only a matter of time until the decree is issued. Although I smoke cigars, and not being able to smoke a cigar in my own bar will take some getting used to, it is my belief that the time has come to acquiesce to changing attitudes and societal norms…
The argument from workplace safety is a compelling and well nigh irrefutable one. The case aesthetically is equally convincing. The simple fact of the matter from management’s perspective is that trying to balance smoking and non-smoking needs in the context of the configuration of an establishment like ours has become maddening.
OK, so they didn’t wake up and decide to make me happy. I can live with the fact that they had other reasons. But I’m also happy they are making this choice freely, without government interference, and because they think it will improve their ability to run their business in the most efficient way they can. It also makes me happy that a shift in societal norms regarding smoking is one of the factors here.
As a student of political science I can tell you that I have read research that suggests that legislation has very little sway over the choices we make, but, if it is promulgated at a time when public sentiment seems to be shifting anyway, it can have an exponential impact on behavior. That seems to be the case in regard to smoking bans. It isn’t that the legislation alone has caused a significant drop in smoking, but it likely has sped the transition we are living through.
But that’s a conversation for a different day and probably on a different blog.
in reply to Fr0sTy0nE #
The more I hold on to this beer the less I get of the malt and the bitter hops shine through. This one feels very complex if not for any other reason but that I’m just not used to the hops in here. You owe it to yourself to pick this one up, it won’t last long.
