So there is this smoking ban possibly happening down here...it is causing a very heated debate and I don't quite get what all the hubbub is about. I do not smoke...never have...well not...not important. Anyways, I've always HATED IT. I grew up in a strangely typical 80's household where both parents smoked...inside...with me there...and in the car...with me there. I didn't realize how much I disliked it until my dad remarried and wasn't allowed to smoke indoors. That is when I started to notice things...like everything I owned smelled like an ashtray. Dude I was like 10 and started getting paranoid! This must mean when I go to school...OMG! Things happened and my mom thoroughly hated my antics until I went to college but that is for another blog post.
My point is I have a strong dislike for being around smoke so I may be a bit biased. With that said when I turned 18 (possibly a little before - tee hee hee) I started going out...party all night...come home sweaty and smelling like a pack of ciggys. Nothing abnormal about that...its just how things were. Then I started having a skin reaction. That's right as a blossoming young adult I developed a rather odd allergy. Whenever I was surrounded by clouds of smoke, even worse in a poorly ventilated area, (be it a club or a house/apt) my eyes would burn almost unbearably and the next day I wouldn't have just normal purple circles under my eyes...they would be bright red and puffy. The skin would eventually HARDEN, turn scaly (ewwww), and peel off. "Hmmmm that's odd." Anyways we discovered I developed an allergy to smoke...go figure. I dealt with it...what was I going to not go out...are you kidding, I was in college! I learned to live with it (cortisone creme was my BFF)...then I went to New York and my perception was forever changed.
You see they had recently passed a law there where you couldn't smoke in a restaurant/bar/club/public area/whatever. Down here we were working on the just banning it in food establishments (which didn't happen until 2007). It was amazing. We went back to the hotel after going out and didn't smell like we bathed in an ashtray! Of course this was short lived as we came home...back to the smokey bars and clubs of the south.
I have NEVER forgotten that and have always wished something like that would happen down here. I have so many friends and family that work in the bar/club industry. Some do smoke but many don't. It cannot be good for them to be immersed in that much second hand smoke all the time. So I was ecstatic when there was talk of this ban. But apparently smokers and non-smokers alike who work in the industry are very upset. Saying that this will be the end of Bourbon Street...it will kill revenue at the casino...people will lose their jobs.
Look I am not dumb, I am aware the industry will probably take a hit. People may stop going out to some of these establishments because they cannot smoke inside or whatever. But isn't this worth it?!?! Not only a healthier environment for the workers and non-smoking patrons BUT it would encourage others to possibly quit...maybe. I am sure the markets in NY and CA (among countless other individual counties/cities) took hits when they banned smoking in bars but I am fairly certain they have recovered. I just don't see a strong enough argument against the ban. I guess it could affect tourism but I don't believe it will be to the degree that people are screaming. I may be completely wrong but I don't think people specifically travel here just because they can smoke in our establishments. There are studies...many many studies showing no adverse affects on businesses caused by smoking bans. I dunno...I know business owners feel like their right to choose is being taken away...I just can't get behind it to continue with everything we know.
I think all the rigamarole is because people inherently don't like change. This is something different therefore it is seen as bad. Look it is 2015, we all know the dangers of smoking and secondhand smoke. It may not be proven 100% to cause cancer (2nd hand smoke) but it causes a load of other issues. This is a step in the right direction, not something negative.
P.S. Yes I think there are other more important things to be concerned about like the increase in crime in the City but this is what they are talking about right now.
**NOTE**- I am not a business owner nor do I work in the industry so I may be missing a huge piece of the puzzle.
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