> The silliest and most "heart wrenching" businessstory was the Eagle Street Grill who said that 50% of his business were smokers and he would go out of business if there was a smoking ban as he choked back tears.
I'll have to grant Tom, that (in my opinion) we need to be very careful before calling anyones position in a debate like this one as "silly."
Whether or not we all believe it, I am sure that there is a very sincere and understandable "FEAR" in the hearts of small business owners who have a great deal to loose - IF, the worst case scenario materializes. In my opinion, it would do the process and the debate a great deal of good, if we acknowledge that fear, whether or not it influences our final position.
That is not to say, that arguments on both sides of the aisle don't sound "silly" on the other side. Its also clear, that in our forum, many of us find it easy to discount the sincere "fear" or "concern" behind arguments which we disagree with. The fear of some "non-smokers" to eat in public restaurants is equally sincere.
All of this is to suggest that, without discounting what has already transpired, we move away from the personal stuff and get back to the issue.
A general suggestion: If someone really "pi..es you off" in the forum - it almost always makes sense to reply to them in private. I understand the desire for a public rebuttal, but suspect that these public rebuttals (of a personal nature) only feel good and accomplish very little. I've deleted a good number of these "public rebuttals" that I've written myself and always been glad that I did.
This advice is not aimed at anyone in particular, because the issue comes up quite often and involves any number of participants.
Best wishes,
-- Tim Erickson List Manager St. Paul Issues Forum http://www.e-democracy.org/stpaul/ Hamline Midway Resident 651-643-0722 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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