Yeah, look at California. No one plays pool there at all, now.pdcue said:Cruel reality gives lie to your naive optomisim. Pool based
bars and poolrooms have not, in general, recovered from smoking bans.
Not even from statewide ones.
Dale

Yeah, look at California. No one plays pool there at all, now.pdcue said:Cruel reality gives lie to your naive optomisim. Pool based
bars and poolrooms have not, in general, recovered from smoking bans.
Not even from statewide ones.
Dale
Yokel said:I am a smoker, but I don't smoke while I play or at the table. If I want to smoke my cigarette, it sits in an ashtray at the bar about 5 feet from my favorite table (which is the last in the row, no one between me and my nicotine habit...)...
Just about everyone at the bar I visit will move their ashtray if the smoke is bothering you, and while I would prefer no one smoke around any tables I play on (I love the tables I play on, even if they aren't mine...), I also respect their right to do so, and just expect them to respect my right to ask them to kindly move the ashtray a few feet back.
Like I said, I am a smoker, so I personally hope this law never reaches my state... I say accept everyone's rights, and if you act like a decent human being everyone can find a way to get along![]()
Russ Chewning said:But that's the thing.. The overwhelming majority of smokers aren't worried about making it easier on anyone else. If you ask some of them politely to move their ashtray, they will blow smoke in your face and move the ashtray closer to you.
Russ
The places I go must have brand X models !!!!iasaxman said:I can say that a ban on smoking isn't as great as it sounds. I frequent a pool hall with several "smoke eaters" to venitlate any smoke. I've seen over 200 people smoking during the same tournament and you can't tell when you walk in the door. What happens when the business now loses the casual pool players who enjoy a drink and a smoke while they hit balls around? During the winter and league seasons here in the mid-west, it doesn't matter too much, but during the spring, summer, and fall when we have to compete with boating, golf, camping, etc., the pool halls falter. They've been running very lean(even the long running, successful ones) during those times of the year before. Now they can't afford to be open as long of hours, have as many employees, run as much advertising, and ultimately, they have to begin looking elsewhere for income. Illinois is going non-smoking very soon, so I'm glad my pool hall is in Iowa. We will be getting more business from cross the river for a while, but when's Iowa gonna follow suit?
I'm a smoker, and I would like to see the non-smokers open up their own places and make them non-smoking. I'm not telling them which of their bad habits not to do in front of me! If they don't like it, go somewhere else! I don't know of a single smoker I'm around that would blow smoke in a non-smokers face, or move an ashtray closer. Smokers for the most part try to be as unobtrusive as possible. We know that there are plenty of non-smokers around no matter where we go.
I say lets get rid of all alcohol instead! Drinking causes more fights and problems than smoking. I haven't seen many people in car accidents because they were over the limit on nicotine. Have you? By the way, I enjoy my alcohol too so better yet, let everyone live their life as they see fit.
CreeDo said:(snip) The bans have nothing to do with smokers, they are 100 percent made for the nonsmokers. (snip)
CreeDo said:...If that argument is valid, I can say "let the will of the state decide, and if you want to live here, you have to submit to the majority's will. If you don't like it, feel free to go to another state."
CreeDo said:chefjeff:
I'm not really phrasing it as a 'rights' thing anymore. I know I used the word in an earlier post, but I should have kept away from it because it's loaded, it makes people think of constitutional guarantees etc.
There is no constitutional right to smoke. We don't have guaranteed rights to privacy, clear air, health care or housing either. There are a lot of things that aren't covered by the constitution (or even laws) but are just common sense and decency.
There's no point in arguing "let the owner decide, and if you don't like his decision, go to another pool hall... if you decide to take your business there, you must submit to the owner's will"
...If that argument is valid, I can say "let the will of the state decide, and if you want to live here, you have to submit to the majority's will. If you don't like it, feel free to go to another state."
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Big Poof: Do you really think the government makes anti-smoking laws because they don't want you to do dangerous or naughty things? Trust me, they don't give a shit.
See if you can figure out the important pattern here.
Smoking: There are laws limiting it.
Drinking: There are laws limiting it.
Driving: There are laws limiting it.
Contact Sports: There are laws limiting it.
What do they all have in common? In all of these cases, what you do can (and often does) affect other people.
Fatty foods: No laws limiting it.
Elective Surgery: No laws limiting it.
Sun Exposure: No laws limiting it.
What do they all have in common? You are not going to affect other people when you indulge in these things.
Get it?
CreeDo said:chefjeff:
(snip)
There's no point in arguing "let the owner decide, and if you don't like his decision, go to another pool hall... if you decide to take your business there, you must submit to the owner's will"
...If that argument is valid, I can say "let the will of the state decide, and if you want to live here, you have to submit to the majority's will. If you don't like it, feel free to go to another state."
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(snip)