smoking in a pool hall?

[KRJ]

Hmmm

BS What you and your believers don't understand is YOU DON'T OWN THE ROOM! If you don't like the way the room is run or what they are doing in it than leave and you should have to because its not your business.By the way better get your head out of the sand. Most bar and pool room owners accross the country have been effected by the no smoking ban.Also if you leave their will be plenty of players who smoke who take your place!!!@

Blah,Blah,Blah..... poor room owners can't kill any more customers or workers.... poor fellars. If the room owners don't like the laws and regulations of the city,county, state, or state they do business in, they can move and do it in a state that lets them do anything you like. Oh, thats right, then they would have to move to Montana and the closet pool player would be 100 miles away. How will that be good for business.

No, they chose to open shop in a metropolitan area because that is where the spending takes place and thus agreed to follow the rules. I like to drive 120 MPH, but I can't, the law says so, and I don't wanna lose my license, so thus I don't.

The smokers had their run for a few hundred years with absolute impunity. Now it's our turn, and payback is a biotch. If half the poolrooms must close, so be it. If half the bars so be it, but of course the poolrooms I play in are doing just fine post smoking ban. So, this must be a reason smokers keep showing up for league, and for drinking beers over the NFL playoffs. half the players on my team smoke, and they still show. THey just have to go to a special room (outdooors) and get their fix. Just like when I have to get my fix after drinking a few beers(urinate) I have to go to a special place (restroom) so as not to disturb the other customers.

 

[Bill812]

We all have the right to DECIDE how we want to live our lives. Smoke, don’t smoke, go where they allow it or don’t….whatever…..it’s your choice. Well, to be fair, it's your choice IF you have the option of a smoking and a non-smoking pool room.

With that said, let me tell you a simple little story. I was in a (smoking) pool room for league one night. I was sitting down minding my own business, eating a salad that I had ordered. A few minutes into my dinner someone walks up to where I am sitting, puts an ash tray right in front of me, puts his cigarette in the ash tray, and walks away. I politely move the ash tray so the smoke wasn’t blowing directly into my face while I’m eating my food. The person comes back, gets irritated with me for moving the ash tray, and gives me a dirty look. I simply stated I was trying to eat without the smoke in my face and he says, “You are in a bar”, rather rudely. Well no sh*t Sherlock! I couldn’t tell! What the hell kind of argument is that and do you really expect to win with it??? THIS is what I do not like.

My point of the story is that if everyone was courteous, and if everyone even began to think a little about how it affects people around them other than themselves, I doubt the whole smoking ban thing would be this big of an issue. (I know I know…this might only happen in my little fantasy world.) There are some smokers out there that will make sure they don’t blow smoke in your face, or make sure that the line of smoke isn’t directed toward you. I am fortunate to have these kinds of friends. However, there are a lot of smokers that have the “don’t come into my space if you don’t want to smell it” mentality. Even when I was a smoker I never had that mentality. Now I have not smoked in about 5 years and I will admit that ONE of the reasons I don’t frequent the pool rooms is because of the smoking. Smoking is the smoker's bad habit - I do not wish to make it mine (again). It is also my opinion that most pool room owners do not want to spend the money it takes (because it is expensive) on a really good ventilation system. I have no idea if that is true or not – I am just basing this off of what I have seen, heard, and experienced.

You can argue all day long…until you are blue in the face if you want…who is right and who is wrong here. Personally, I do not wish to pollute my lungs with 2nd hand smoke (which IS harmful), so I go to pool rooms only when I have to, and that is MY choice. I do not have an issue with smokers, but smokers can’t say that non-smokers want it their way or no way, without saying the same things about themselves.

This thread is about smoking…your opinion on banning it or not. It is not about driving, eating fast food, or working out. The Government is trying to do what is best for the people of this country by banning smoking in public establishments. By giving non-smokers the right to simply not smoke against their will in public establishments. This is going to be one of those debates folks will still be having years and years from now.

It is our own responsibility to treat each other as we would be treated. Reverting back to the bible, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

Definition of COURTESY
1
a : behavior marked by polished manners or respect for others : courteous behavior
b : a courteous and respectful act or expression

Just sayin’….

Study up on 2nd hand smoke…..harmful or not…you can decide…
http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/tobaccocancer/secondhand-smoke

I sure hope I don’t get reamed for staying my own opinion…

Peace,
Amanda

The only ones that might ream you for your opinion are those that do not qualify as courteous 1A &/or 1B.
As far as my personal opinion goes, I'd like to see it banned from all indoor public establishments. Unfortunately in my area, all of the bars that league are played in are 21 and older bars, which exempts them from "the banning of smoking in a restuarant" law. The ventilation systems are either not working or not maintained, and at times the stench is unbearable and will stay with your clothes for many days (I have a few jackets I keep in my garage that I refer to as my smoking jackets).

 

[mandalamps]

Agreed....

The only ones that might ream you for your opinion are those that do not qualify as courteous 1A &/or 1B.
As far as my personal opinion goes, I'd like to see it banned from all indoor public establishments. Unfortunately in my area, all of the bars that league are played in are 21 and older bars, which exempts them from "the banning of smoking in a restuarant" law. The ventilation systems are either not working or not maintained, and at times the stench is unbearable and will stay with your clothes for many days (I have a few jackets I keep in my garage that I refer to as my smoking jackets).

I completely agree with you. I would love it if all indoor smoking was banned. I am just not going to argue with people about the right and wrong of it.

I have a jacket and a purse like that! That really is sad... lol
Unfortunately, I do not have a garage, and nowhere safe to put them outside....so the inside of my laundry room get the raw end of the deal.... Hmmm...

 

[hunger strike]

Philip Morris

Here I am in Richmond, VA, home of tobacco giant PHILIP MORRIS. Even here there is now a smoking ban. Doesn't that tell you that your right to swing a bat ends where my right to not be hit begins? Poolrooms are closing because of the economy and because most people have been brainwashed by the media into staying in their homes where they can do what we are doing right at this moment. Hooking up to the grid.
On the far side of town where there is a smoking ban, 15 miles away, there is a great poolroom called Side Pocket.... I go there when I can go that far. I am actually within walking distance of a poolroom on this side of town. I would be playing pool there right now..... but they have gotten around the smoking ban with a tiny nonsmoking room.... the whole place smells like sh#t. So I stay away.

 

[BasementDweller]

My Wife Hates the Smell...I Kind of Miss It.

Call me crazy but I sometimes (not always) miss that rotten stench I used to bring home with me after playing pool ALL NIGHT LONG! I will now pause 10 seconds while you all call me crazy.

There's something about the mixture of the smoke, the chalk, and the grease from the rails. When you combine those three it just makes me think about the good ole days. Man, it has been a while since I stunk that bad. Now that I think about it, I haven't stained up a pair of jeans at the thighs in a while either. Ah too bad.

Now when I go play pool for a few hours I come back smelling exactly how I smelled when I left. No more sneaking my clothes into the bottom of the dirty clothes pile. Now I just drop them right on the floor and I just have to worry about getting yelled at for being a slob. How boring is that???

Maybe someone could bottle that smell for me. Stinky-Pool-Hall-Smell-in-a-Can. I would buy that.


P.S. ON A SERIOUS NOTE, WE ALL KNOW THAT SMOKING IS BAD FOR YOU SO QUIT BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE. MY FATHER IS DEAD BECAUSE HE WAS A LIFE-LONG SMOKER. THERE'S NO EXCUSE FOR IT.

 

[Big Perm]

any thoughts?

Sure, here are my thoughts....

I don't like smoke in a pool hall.....I don't like to smell like smoke....it bothers my eyes after a while.....I prefer not to play where there is smoking......I do enjoy an occasional cigar, but typically that is outdoors on my patio or someone elses, enjoying a cigar with friends...

With that being said, I am 100% against a smoking ban.....it should be the business owner's decision to allow or disallow smoking....people can vote with their $$$ - ie, they can take their business to a place that supports their habit....

Someone made a comment earlier regarding a business' customer base.....the truth is, many of the staunch supporters in communities, rallying against smoking in town halls and press conferences, are not bar or pool hall customers......

Cheesefries are incredibly unhealthy - if you had a restaurant and many people like to enjoy the fries, would you support a ban?
Liquor, beer, and wine in quantity are dangerous and unhealthy - maybe the govt should regulate bars where every patron is only allowed 2 drinks?
TV has been proven to be fairly unhealthy - should .gov set up a blocker on your TV where you can only watch 3 hours a day?
Govt healthcare is on the way - maybe they should force everyone to exercise at least 1 hour a day....I mean, it's healthy and better for us, right???
Al Gore told me cars hurt us all - why don't we ban cars??? We can just be college hippies and bike everywhere....

It's getting to the point in society where people expect the law and government to tell us what to do......why don't we just manage ourselves??? Don't like smoking, don't go there.....

A few years back, visited a buddy in South Carolina and we went to dinner.....in a restaurant, like half the people were smoking, LOL.....I didn't like it, but he smoked and it was one meal......I could have told him I wished to go somewhere else, or even just picked up some food to cook at home and voted with my $$$'s......

Instead of banning something everytime someone doesn't like something, how about they just not like it......plenty of crap offends me, but I don't go on protest every day.....I get offended by people that get easily offended, but I don't ban them - I just avoid them

It's a slippery slope.....

 

[Smooth]

new paper

Has anyone else noticed the new "scent" that the cigarettes have since they went to the new paper? I do not smoke cigs but my wife and most of my buddies do.... and the new cigs have a distinctly different scent to me. It is much more pungent... to me at least. I wonder if that makes it even harder for the ventilation systems to do their jobs in the pool halls.

 

[KRJ]

Hmmm

Sure, here are my thoughts....

I don't like smoke in a pool hall.....I don't like to smell like smoke....it bothers my eyes after a while.....I prefer not to play where there is smoking......I do enjoy an occasional cigar, but typically that is outdoors on my patio or someone elses, enjoying a cigar with friends...

With that being said, I am 100% against a smoking ban.....it should be the business owner's decision to allow or disallow smoking....people can vote with their $$$ - ie, they can take their business to a place that supports their habit....

Someone made a comment earlier regarding a business' customer base.....the truth is, many of the staunch supporters in communities, rallying against smoking in town halls and press conferences, are not bar or pool hall customers......

Cheesefries are incredibly unhealthy - if you had a restaurant and many people like to enjoy the fries, would you support a ban?
Liquor, beer, and wine in quantity are dangerous and unhealthy - maybe the govt should regulate bars where every patron is only allowed 2 drinks?
TV has been proven to be fairly unhealthy - should .gov set up a blocker on your TV where you can only watch 3 hours a day?
Govt healthcare is on the way - maybe they should force everyone to exercise at least 1 hour a day....I mean, it's healthy and better for us, right???
Al Gore told me cars hurt us all - why don't we ban cars??? We can just be college hippies and bike everywhere....

It's getting to the point in society where people expect the law and government to tell us what to do......why don't we just manage ourselves??? Don't like smoking, don't go there.....

A few years back, visited a buddy in South Carolina and we went to dinner.....in a restaurant, like half the people were smoking, LOL.....I didn't like it, but he smoked and it was one meal......I could have told him I wished to go somewhere else, or even just picked up some food to cook at home and voted with my $$$'s......

Instead of banning something everytime someone doesn't like something, how about they just not like it......plenty of crap offends me, but I don't go on protest every day.....I get offended by people that get easily offended, but I don't ban them - I just avoid them

It's a slippery slope.....

Should it be the business owners decision if they also want;

to allow prostitution?
to allow poker machines?
to allow "hit men" to make their plans there?
to allow children to drink there?
to allow cock fighting?
to allow abortions?
to allow to sell crack?
to allow to sell materials to make make a bomb?

The business owner is allowed exactly what the city, county, and state decides.....and if not allowing smoking is a public health hazard, which it is, not to mention the victims that must work there. Yeah, you can get sick working in a coal mine too, but it was for some the only job around and thus worth the gamble with their health to feed their families, probably the same for service guys/gals, you gotta do it, but they now appreicate the smoking ban more than anyone.

And for the opponnts to any smoking ban, if you don't like it, than do something about it, and start a grass roots campaign, and do some lobbying, I'm sure big tobacco will front you some cash, and change the law. Pretty simple. There are avenues to pursue your gripe. But as it stands, say good bye to indoor smoking in IL and most states. If your state doesn't have it, quit smoking now, because it's coming soon......

 

[Blue Hog ridr]

I am Canadian and I am a smoker.
When they first implemented non smoking pretty much everywhere I quite playing league pool for a bit cause if I couldn't have my beer and lit smoke while playing, it just wasn't enjoyable any longer.

The predictions for businesses hurting were the same. The pool halls, bars and bingo hurt for a very short time and then it was business as usual.

When I go to the hall, I have one cigarette, maybe two in the course of the evening. Same as when I go to a bar on occasion. I'd rather get down and play pool than waste valuable time standing outside smoking.

The end result is that I cut down drastically. I don't even smoke much in my own home.

We have one large bar with a lot of tables and one real hall left, the others closed but it had nothing to do with the smoking ban. It is just a sign of the times.

If you truly love the game that is Pool and you choose smoking over it, that doesn't say much for your professed love of the game.

Cowboys like smoky old pool rooms, clear mountain mornings.
Ah, but I do remember the good ole days, when the downtown halls had some atmosphere and the cigar smoke hung thick in the air.
Those weren't Chuckie Cheeses with pool tables back then.

 

[genomachino]

The chemicals build up in your system.........

I can handle bad music as long as I can breathe!! It wasn't this bad long ago, what happened? There are even high ceilings in this place I speak of, I can't believe he has no better ventilation! I could frequent there again if it wasn't this bad! OMG!!

One of 2 things happen. Either you get a little older and your body can't handle trying to clean this crap out of your system or your body is just so overloaded with the chemicals that are in cigerette smoke that it just can't handle that either.

My case I'm older and I'm overloaded with the chemicals. i had hair samples analyzed and the results were pretty conclusive.

If your body if trying to tell you something you better listen.

it's kind of amazing the amount of people that die every year from this smoke.

I have a friend down in Olathe that doesn't even smoke and he was doing treatment for lung cancer. I couldn't believe it. He said he just goes in there now during the day when the smoke isn't so bad.

He loves to play pool like all of us. What a shame.

Now he just goes there when he can just breathe in a little poison.

I'm on the verge of something really bad happening in my lungs from that darn smoke. When I get a dose of it now and then I have a hard time breathing the next day or 2. I definitely stay out of any place that has smoke.

Here's a statistic that most people don't know.

When people snort cocaine only about 10% gets to your brain through the membranes in your nose and sinuses.

When they smoke it about 80 to 90% gets to your brain. Kind of scarey. About the same as if you injected it into your viens with a needle. FACT!!!!!!!!

I don't know if there is any corolation between the 2 but that might be one reason those darn cigs are so hard to quit.

Good Luck.............

 

[Str8PoolPlayer]

I was a 2+ pack of (short) Camels smoker throughout the majority of my most memorable Pool playing career and, even though "I was a smoker", I became verbally combative when anyone would lay their burning cigarette or cigar on the Rail of a Pool Table. That is why ash trays were invented, duh !!!

Having grown up in a home with a magnficent 5x10 Brunswick Kling Table in our Parlor, I quickly learned proper "pool etiquette" and have maintained a respectable decorum no matter where I play, be it a Bar or Upscale Billiard Hall.

I quit smoking "cold turkey" on my birthday in 1969 and never smoked another cigarette. And yes, that includes weed. (Always put me to sleep, and that's no fun.)

Cigarette smoke is now quite offensive to me, even the residue on a smoker's clothing or breath. However, "Chew" has to be the most disgusting of all tobacco habits and I nearly barf every time someone spits in a can or styrofoam cup. I have even told the TD's at several Tournaments that I will not tolerate such vulgarity from any opponent and consider it "unsportsmanlike behaviour".

To each his own and that's my .02 cents worth on the subject. I can't fault someone for smoking, but I hope they are able to quit ... for their sake more than mine.

 

[LWW]

your analogy is flawed (pretty severely). Also, your premise is simply false. Every human interaction does *not* put us at risk. Why would you think that? If you think your analogy is good, you have an extraordinary ignorance for the concept of causality. But we both have been down this road before. Still, for entertainment purposes, it would be more fun if you came up with something logical...

KMRUNOUT

Then you should have no problem exposing it's flaws.

LWW

 

[LWW]

Logic? what the heck is that...lol....

Something the statists are devoid of.

LWW

 

[LWW]

Blah,Blah,Blah..... poor room owners can't kill any more customers or workers.... poor fellars.

Are you aware that others can read what you post?

Do you really believe that room owners desire to kill their customers off?

LWW

 

[vasilios]

this thread is getting old.same old crap,i can,i can't.point me to some threads about some of these non smokers opening up some new rooms.if there are any non smoking supporters that post here on AZ have opened a new pool room in a baned area.please post the address of your room so i can come play a few.i will smoke out side if the need to burn a butt happens.

bill

 

[Big Perm]

Should it be the business owners decision if they also want;

to allow prostitution?
to allow poker machines?
to allow "hit men" to make their plans there?
to allow children to drink there?
to allow cock fighting?
to allow abortions?
to allow to sell crack?
to allow to sell materials to make make a bomb?

The business owner is allowed exactly what the city, county, and state decides.....and if not allowing smoking is a public health hazard, which it is, not to mention the victims that must work there. coming soon......

Yes, there are legal businesses that offer:
prostitution
poker machines
hit men to dine
abortions
weed
sell materials to make bombs/explosives

And if I don't want to go to those business, I go elsewhere.....there are plenty of business that exist that I don't agree with, so I don't go there....

And people that work there are not victims, they are employees.....if they don't like it, they can do something else.....there are plenty of people that work high towers, logging, fishing, and other dangerous jobs and none of them are victims....if you interview in a bar that allows smoking, then you take that risk into account on whether or not you want to work there.....

There are plenty of activities and opportunities that are public health hazards and I listed many of them....but at what point do you start to lose your ability to make your own decisions....when do you get worried that freedom may not be yours any longer???

And remember, I don't like smoking and prefer to play where people don't smoke....

 

[Tennesseejoe]

The Music Open 9 Ball tournament held at JOB's in Nashville has the luxury of a no smoking section room for a majority of the tournament. It was a pleasure to watch the matches and especially the TV matches without the smoke. The JOB's allows smoking during the tournament in both upper levels.

There is no easy answer and business owners must protect their investment and make profit. But one thing may help---if smokers would be more courteous.

 

[ndakotan]

Should be an easy solution

I am not allowed to bring a gas-powered generator to charge my ipod while I'm at the bar.

Bar owners are not allowed to observe the 10 second rule with your burger patty.

People are not allowed to spit in public spaces or most sidewalks, or on prison guards.

People still go to bars after the chew spitoons were removed.

Construction companies are not allowed to tell an employee to do something in an unsafe manner, now they have prison terms for management negligence.

Construction companies have safety books and OSHA books with all of the regulations they have to follow.

2nd hand smoke is detrimental to people subjected to it, and causes ear infection problems for young children. We actually have to tell people not to smoke when their kids are around.

Banning smoking in public buildings was an easy law to pass. Smoking in planes is a thing of the past.

Construction companies did not close down with each regulation passed.

People will still go to bars, even if they can't smoke. People are still going to restaurants and movies and they can't smoke in there (thank god for that).

In our state, the coin op dealers and bars lobby heavily to keep the smoking ban from getting far. They put out misleading ads, have smokers sign petitions at the bars, try to get non-smokers to sign by prodding them in front of their friends, and lobby heavily at the city council meetings and state senate meetings.

People that fight smoking bans on principle are emotionally attached to the issue because they smoke in bars or because they "fear government regulation". Without government regulation, the mob would be running everything, construction workers would be dying on a regular basis, and I would want to watch my burger being made a fast-food restaurants to make sure it hasn't been dropped, spit on, peed on, or worse.

 

[Lexicologist71]

I know of two rooms which offer nonsmoking tables in separate rooms. It's great to have the option. There are few things nastier than pulling my cue out days later to smell cigarette smoke on it. Yuk.

 

[KMRUNOUT]

We all have the right to DECIDE how we want to live our lives. Smoke, don’t smoke, go where they allow it or don’t….whatever…..it’s your choice. Well, to be fair, it's your choice IF you have the option of a smoking and a non-smoking pool room.

With that said, let me tell you a simple little story. I was in a (smoking) pool room for league one night. I was sitting down minding my own business, eating a salad that I had ordered. A few minutes into my dinner someone walks up to where I am sitting, puts an ash tray right in front of me, puts his cigarette in the ash tray, and walks away. I politely move the ash tray so the smoke wasn’t blowing directly into my face while I’m eating my food. The person comes back, gets irritated with me for moving the ash tray, and gives me a dirty look. I simply stated I was trying to eat without the smoke in my face and he says, “You are in a bar”, rather rudely. Well no sh*t Sherlock! I couldn’t tell! What the hell kind of argument is that and do you really expect to win with it??? THIS is what I do not like.

My point of the story is that if everyone was courteous, and if everyone even began to think a little about how it affects people around them other than themselves, I doubt the whole smoking ban thing would be this big of an issue. (I know I know…this might only happen in my little fantasy world.) There are some smokers out there that will make sure they don’t blow smoke in your face, or make sure that the line of smoke isn’t directed toward you. I am fortunate to have these kinds of friends. However, there are a lot of smokers that have the “don’t come into my space if you don’t want to smell it” mentality. Even when I was a smoker I never had that mentality. Now I have not smoked in about 5 years and I will admit that ONE of the reasons I don’t frequent the pool rooms is because of the smoking. Smoking is the smoker's bad habit - I do not wish to make it mine (again). It is also my opinion that most pool room owners do not want to spend the money it takes (because it is expensive) on a really good ventilation system. I have no idea if that is true or not – I am just basing this off of what I have seen, heard, and experienced.

You can argue all day long…until you are blue in the face if you want…who is right and who is wrong here. Personally, I do not wish to pollute my lungs with 2nd hand smoke (which IS harmful), so I go to pool rooms only when I have to, and that is MY choice. I do not have an issue with smokers, but smokers can’t say that non-smokers want it their way or no way, without saying the same thing about themselves.

This thread is about smoking…your opinion on banning it or not. It is not about driving, eating fast food, or working out. The Government is trying to do what is best for the people of this country by banning smoking in public establishments. By giving non-smokers the right to simply not smoke against their will in public establishments. This is going to be one of those debates folks will still be having years and years from now.

It is our own responsibility to treat each other as we would be treated. Reverting back to the bible, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

Definition of COURTESY
1
a : behavior marked by polished manners or respect for others : courteous behavior
b : a courteous and respectful act or expression

Just sayin’….

Study up on 2nd hand smoke…..harmful or not…you can decide…
http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/tobaccocancer/secondhand-smoke

I sure hope I don’t get reamed for staying my own opinion…

Peace,
Amanda

Excellent post. Well said. If you scroll up to my previous posts, you will see I agree with you 100% ;-)

KMRUNOUT