Why Pool is devastated by the new Smoking Laws.
- Thread starter Paul Schofield
- Start date
That would be you Paul. You cannot even wrap your brain around that smoking bans have nothing to do with pools decline, and if they did, even if they did, well the sport just needs to go away then.
If the only folks we can get to play pool have to smoke while doing it, or they would give it up,well, let them go, cause they are NOT pool players.
I love baseball, and they took smoking out of the dugouts, heck, they even recently took it out of the park. You cannot smoke in the park or parking lot. And all the smokers are right back and playing, didn't lose one single teammate. Because they love the game. Smoking is an addiction but baseball is LIFE.
If we non smokers loved pool enough to stick around the last century enduring the smoking, the smelly clothes, the disgusting smell, the constant ashes left all over, the burn marks on the rails, the yellowing stains on the walls, and the disgusting film on the windows to play the game we love, certainly the smokers must love pool enough to step outside a few feet. If not, than good riddance, they do NOT love pool and are not want we need to build up the sport.
Heck, pool is the only sport, professionally and amatuer as well as in leagues that you can drink while playing.... mabye darts and bowling, but yikes,who wants to do that
That's so true. My father made more than I make now (college educated professional job), in the 80s. Around 80K a year back then. His new house he built cost 23,000 in 1974, new car about 4100, gas around 88 cent a gallon, bread like a dollar.
These days, gas around 3-4 dollars, houses 200K or more, bread what 2.50, cars 30-50K... And the average pay is the same or lower.
You do the math..
Ok, I did the math. $80K in the 80's ?? Your old man robbed banks, or was some hot shot corporate dude. A US Senator did NOT make $80K in 1980, it was closer to $60K. So, what exactly did pops do to make that kind of coin ?
You cannot even wrap your brain around that smoking bans have nothing to do with pools decline, and if they did, even if they did, well the sport just needs to go away then.
I think you may be getting your wish. Miniature pool in bars should survive for now (at least till the anti-smoking crowd morphs into an anti-alcohol crowd). The regulation table in billiard rooms is very nearly a thing of the past.
Watch out. These same people (like ChicagoRJ) are also after your favorite foods.
We've had these same arguments before, Paul. There were lots and lots of things that people used to do that have been proven to not be the best choice....why is smoking any different? Our society has always needed to adapt, over the millenniums, why should inhaling a carcinogen be exempt from that fact?
As ChicagoRJ points out, if pool needs smoking to thrive, then it is doomed.
I have been very clear about this. Pool needs a new and different demographic in order to survive in this political climate. It's not looking good.
I continue to put up Joe Camel art to keep this conversation light and amuse the readers.
A funny story on smoking in a poolroom. Two guys in there 70's went outside and fought a couple of months ago from a arguement over smoking. One worked there, the other is a non-smoking tightwad who no one has ever seen spend one dime in this poolroom in over 30 years. Three guys come in and play every afternoon, and while they were playing this guy moved their ash tray. The guy working seen this and went over and put the ash tray back and told the guy not to bother paying customers. Well, this guy took exception and asked the other outside. Very funny thing to watch! If I owned a poolroom and smoking was allowed, I would bar anyone who bothered the other customes about smoking!
Congrats to you sir.
I on the other hand watched my mother slowly die because of cigarette smoking, but maybe i imagined her walking around barely able to breath and die at 59 from respiratory problems. But maybe her lungs turned to shit because she ate too much brocoli or something because it surely couldn't be the tar, arsenic and other crap they put in cigarettes.
Joe Cool would not be allowed in Gold Crown Billiards, smoking or not smoking, because his hat was on backwards.
(I see what you did there, Dub! :thumbup: )
My sincere condolences for your loss.
Your Mother though had the freedom to make a choice. She chose to smoke, she chose to use a product sold legally. Unfortunately, our Government has chosen to take freedom away from business owners, the freedom to run their business as they choose to. While the USA's debt tops 15 trillion dollars, while the REAL unemployment rate is over 15%, while the economy outright sucks ... our government is focusing their time on such important items as enacting non smoking regulations and enforcing their will on the citizens at the expense of their freedoms. Perhaps you could reference our Constitution and quote where you see that people have an inalienable right to a tobacco free environment in someone's else business or property. What's missing here is the non smokers have the right to choose not to go into that "smoking allowed" pool hall, restaurant, bowling alley, etc.. They used to have that freedom.
BTW, I'm not a cigarette smoker. I do smoke cigars but it is not a big deal in the least for me to go into a bar and play pool for 6 hours without a cigar. That's not the source of my issue here. The issue is loss of freedom. If the Government deems cigarettes so dangerous, why are they still legal to sell/buy? Do you really think for one second that if there weren't so many tax revenues from the sale of cigarettes, they'd still be a legal product?
So Big Brother is constantly trying to take away your second amendment rights with no legal foundation for doing so and despite many studies showing areas where concealed carry is legal has shown to decrease violent crime. Big Brother has decided it is now okay to tell business owners what legal products they may and may not allow in their establishments. But don't worry, it will stop there. You most certainly won't see any more of your civil rights violated in the future. Right.
Almost all pro-smoking arguments a founded on the idea that people have a choice. The smoker chooses to smoke. The business owner chooses to allow it. The nonsmoker can choose to go to another pool hall.
The horrible thing about addiction is that it removes choice from the equation.
The smoker lights up the next one because he feels compelled to, not because he wants to. Most of them know it's terrible for you, and expensive, and makes them smell nasty. If it were strictly a rational decision where you balance pros and cons, then almost nobody would do it, it'd be a dead archaic hobby.
It's possible to 'choose' to quit but anyone who's tried knows it's very hard. My own mom described it as one of the most difficult things she ever had to do in her life.
Sometimes smokers will keep at it even after a diagnosis of lung cancer or bronchitis. If you've ever seen someone smoking through a hole in their throat, you'll start to get an inkling of how little part 'choice' plays in it.
But... they chose to have that first smoke right? Again, the deck is stacked against you. A lot of people started at ages like 14, 15, 16. People at that age just don't have the brains or experience to make a rational adult decision about it. They don't understand they're making a serious decision that will have an impact for the next 50 years. By the time they've acquired a little wisdom and understand they won't live forever, it's too late.
As for the business owner having a choice - pool halls already seem to be a tough way to make a buck, they're closing all the time. If he believes he will lose even 10% of his money, and he's a smoker himself, then opting to ban it is a tough choice to make.
Finally we have the nonsmokers who choose to go there. If the next nearest pool hall is quite a ways away, and you friends smoke, then do you realistically have much choice? Not shooting pool is another tough choice to ask of the people on this forum who love the game.
What legislation does is act as a counterbalance to addiction. They are both compulsions that are difficult to ignore. Nicotine stacks the deck against people 'choosing' to step outside, even if those people normally want to be courteous to others. So the law is our best remedy, one of the few compulsions strong enough to go to-to-toe with addiction and give nonsmokers a better option than driving 50 miles or putting up with a shitty atmosphere.
That would be you Paul. You cannot even wrap your brain around that smoking bans have nothing to do with pools decline, and if they did, even if they did, well the sport just needs to go away then.
If the only folks we can get to play pool have to smoke while doing it, or they would give it up,well, let them go, cause they are NOT pool players.
I love baseball, and they took smoking out of the dugouts, heck, they even recently took it out of the park. You cannot smoke in the park or parking lot. And all the smokers are right back and playing, didn't lose one single teammate. Because they love the game. Smoking is an addiction but baseball is LIFE.
If we non smokers loved pool enough to stick around the last century enduring the smoking, the smelly clothes, the disgusting smell, the constant ashes left all over, the burn marks on the rails, the yellowing stains on the walls, and the disgusting film on the windows to play the game we love, certainly the smokers must love pool enough to step outside a few feet. If not, than good riddance, they do NOT love pool and are not want we need to build up the sport.
Heck, pool is the only sport, professionally and amatuer as well as in leagues that you can drink while playing.... mabye darts and bowling, but yikes,who wants to do that
Excellent post!
Another excellent post. How the notion of smoking and the closing of pool rooms ever got started, is beyond me.
Nice try. After smoking for over 30 years, I quit a 2 pack + per day habit 5 years ago. Cold turkey, haven't had a puff since. BTW, I'm not defending the smoking habit, I'm defending what should be basic civil rights and voting against the Government intervening in our lives. I can't find any argument for smoking being good for you. However, I also believe obesity is a far greater problem than second hand smoke but you don't see the Government closing McDonalds do you? If anyone thinks Government should be allowed to pass laws because they're "for your good", prayers sent. I don't have any desire to have a bunch of slime ball morons who can't run a business without going in debt by $15 trillion telling me what's good for me.
Your assumption is incorrect. The govenment did not intervene.
All smoking bans, that I am aware of, were done at the local level and were done mostly by referendums where citizens circulated petitions requesting the question be placed before the voters who then decided whether, or not, to allow smoking in public places. This is how our democratic republic has operated for lo these many years, and hopefully, will continue to do so.
