Weblog
07/30/01 10:06 PM: Town government
This ended up being more of a rant than I intended. Sorry.
Occasionally I follow the happenings of my town’s government. There has been a great deal recently about a proposed smoking ban for restaurants and the like going on. I strongly support this particular controversial issue. Smoking is a funny thing. People do it because they enjoy it. When I go to a restaurant, I also go there because I intend to enjoy a meal without having to partake in the process of cooking it. I do not, however, go out to a restaurant with the intent to return smelling like I’ve smoked a pack of cigarettes and having trouble breathing.
It is bad enough at my University where the smokers gather outside the buildings and upon exiting I am inundated with second hand smoke. People walk along on their way to class puffing away at their cigarettes. This is fine, at least they can’t do it inside and I will put up with it. But show some respect people, can’t you possibly go one or two hours without lighting up when you go out too eat? A couple of people I know on IRC happen to be smokers. I suggested that I would like to have the ability to breathe clean air without the second hand smoke. One of them put up the defense that I should stop using my car so that I can breathe clean air outside without pollution. I suppose that’s a good argument, but I would venture to guess that the smoke filled air inside a closed building is slightly more dangerous than the open, polluted air. At least in Boston the smog is not too bad. Anyway, it will be interesting to see the outcome of the Board of Health ruling in my town. The meetings are televised and they have quite some heated discussion about it. Selectmen’s meetings are more interesting, but this sure generates more hot-tempered responses.
Sorry if I offended any of the smoking readers. Here’s a thought for you, though: Quit! (unless you have a death wish).
Welcome back Dave. I know of some of the sorted details of your trip but I look forward to the post that you indicated you would make today.
