Smoking in Putnam County

Yes, here comes another anti-smoking rant. If you can't stand the stench of it go outside ;-)

Reading through the local rag I was disheartened by new news stories that almost seemed to push to the dark dusty corner of the paper. One was that Blinko glass is in trouble. The gas has been switched off and hence the furnace is no longer burning. The 100 year old business looks to be doomed although the viewing gallery is still open I believe. Sad times. Once Blinko has gone, my stretch of the interstate will simply have a blank space under "Attractions".
The other piece of disappointing news was that hotels and motels are now re-allowed to have smoking rooms. It feels like a huge step backwards for the county. What will happen next? No new fangled drugs in the hospitals, like Penicillin. Men will have to start wearing hats all the time and women will be refused jobs. The argument is that the rooms become "private property" and so the occupants should be able to treat them like such. Smokers, you have the entire great-outdoors to smoke in. Look out your windows. There's lots of it out there. That's your "private property" right there. I mean who is actually staying in these places who is even from the county? I mean someone has obviously fought for this "rights" but will they be the ones staying in the hotels? Probably not. I look forward to a complete and total smoking ban (not a total-smoking ban) for the state and country so I can FINALLY get some clean air in my $20 motel room.

Where's my rights?

For some reason the title of my post has me singing "Where is my mind?" by the Pixies. Weird. Anywho, people who know me know that I can't stand the smell of cigarette smoke. So generally i'm pleased when I hear about smoking bans because it means I can go places and not have to smell the smoke or breathe any in. I have nothing against the smokers in general and would be quite happy if smoking only affected the one with the cigarette. It seems that it's a pretty prickly issue over in Kanawha county, however, in that bar owners feel they are losing business. Smokers feel like it's their right to smoke where they please and non-smokers feel like it's their right to breathe in fresh air. What a pickle. I read through some of the comments on the news article and wanted to reprint this one which I thought was particully articulate:

Smokers choose to participate in a lifestyle that shortens their life expectancy as well as the life expectancy of those around them. As a human being it is my right and the right of every other patron to be able to go into a bar or restaurant without the fear of being bombarded by a hazardous environment. The minute smokers enter a bar they immediately "own" the air inside the bar simply because there is no way to contain cigarette smoke. Since this smoke has been proven hazardous, and the bar owner has given up his/her rights to the air inside the establishment, it is the duty of the government to stand for the basic human rights of the non-smokers. Don't like it? Stop smoking. It won't kill you if you do.

Thanks to "Allen" whoever you may be.