Amen, brother Dan, Amen.
At least the anti-choice, smoking ban proponents will sleep well at night
knowing that those laid off will, at least, be healthy.
But hey, as long as the Linden Hills enlightened can listen to their
jaaaazzzzzz, mannnnn, in a smoke-free environment twice a month, that's all
that matters, right? The smaller, locally-owned, mom and pop bars where
blue-collar working people go........ who cares.
And the answer is not a state-wide ban. The answer is to let adults choose
for themselves where they work and where they patronize. But to expect such
common sense is like pissing in the wind in Minneapolis, where nearly
everybody south of Lake Street knows what is better for me than I do.
Blessed be them for that.
Not.
Mike Thompson
Windom
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dan McGrath" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <mpls@mnforum.org>
Sent: Wednesday, October 19, 2005 6:39 PM
Subject: Re: [Mpls] RE: Another DT restaurant closes
Hasn't anyone considered that restaurants, and bars may be closing due to
the gigantic drop in patronage following the March 31st implementation of
the Minneapolis and Hennepin County smoking bans? Since the ban(s) took
effect, 40 bars and several (don't have the exact number) restaurants in
Minneapolis have closed. My favorite pub (Molly Quinn's) is probably
closing
in a couple weeks. The owner has already laid off all staff, and cut back
to
7 hours a day. Many owners have tried to combat the drop in business with
nice new patios, but are finding that that only slightly mitigates the
losses. Now that winter is upon us, we are likely to see another surge of
closings. 1400 jobs have already been lost in the hospitality industry,
and
that doesn't even account for the cuts in hours for those hospitality
employees who have managed to keep their jobs.
I've been watching this discussion for a while now, wondering if anyone
would draw a link to the smoking ban. To my chagrin, listers seem to
prefer
not to consider that possibility, and instead turn to ideas about local
ownership, chain vs. small small business operation, et-c, ignoring the
obvious. Chain operations are more likely to be able to weather the storm,
as they can afford losses until the smaller competitors have been killed
off. Once the number of bars and resturants has been sufficiently
decimated,
the big boys who held on will probably begin turning profits again.
Who benefits from a smoking ban in Minneapolis? Large, rich corporations:
Chain operators from out of state; Giant pharmaceutical companies (whose
addictive products cost twice what tobacco does)..
Who suffers under it? Small, local business owners, working stiffs in the
hospitality industry (ironically, the very people the bans are ostensibly
in
place to protect), and everyone who has the guts to make their own
decisions.
The price of progress, right? My own elected city representative has been
heard to say, "bowlers and smokers are expendable" Seems to be a common
attitude among the "progressive" elite.
Dan McGrath
Longfellow
http://www.shegstad.us
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