The difference, Matthew, is that if someone set up a pig farm next door to Tim, it devalues his property, intrudes on his rights in his own home due to noise / olfactory concerns, and could possibly cause a health issue. It is not easy for Tim to then sell his devalued home and move elsewhere, which is why we have zoning in the first place. However, if you are in a restaurant and the smoke is bothering you, you can request to be moved elsewhere. I agree that it is not your fault, and some would say "why should I have to move, they are the ones who are smoking". You would have a valid point. However, the smokers are sitting in the only location where they are allowed to smoke. They can't move, and they should not be asked to refrain from doing something that, while unpleasant and harmful, is legal. It is now up to you to let the management / ownership of the restaurant know that this bothers you, which then becomes the owners right/responsibility to deal with it. Given enough complaints, the owner may very well decide that it is not worth it to allow smoking.
The salient point is that you are voicing your opinion in a way that it can affect the owner, and the owner is left with the decision. You see, no government involvement. Personally, I feel that smoking SHOULD be illegal. That would make this thread, and the argument behind it, moot. But they have/will not, so we have the government telling us how to operate our business. That is just wrong, and when does it end? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?forumid=5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?method=subscribe&forumid=5 Signup for the Fusion Authority news alert and keep up with the latest news in ColdFusion and related topics. http://www.fusionauthority.com/signup.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
