At first I thought this meant Athens Greece, but even Georgia is news. What I noticed in the Atlanta Journal report was that 6 proposals had been brought forward and two were voted on, resulting in a smoking ban in bars and restaurants except between the hours of 11pm and 7am. (Surely their bars aren't open till 7am?) But the point that mattered to me was the process. Apparently there was time for discussion of alternatives and a vote between the two most workable. In our case, it seemed to come out of nowhere, without time for persuasion or attention to different points of view. Mayor Kelly was a bit caustic about the 'my way or the highway' attitude he discerned in some smoking ban proponents. I know that I personally would have felt much more cooperative if the issue had been raised here in a more diplomatic fashion. Smokers like me have obeyed what we thought was an acceptable law. We haven't been deliberately inconsiderate; in fact, in a small restaurant with a 2-ft. aisle between me and non-smoking, I just didn't have a cigarette. So I felt assaulted by the fist-to-nose or boot-to-butt rhetoric that characterized smokers as rude aggressors and business owners as greedy beasts. I don't know where the ban can go from here, but I hope it can be approached with a recognition that we're all citizens with good intentions. Maybe it should be a referendum like the one we had on the stadium issue. Maybe there should be a trial period like the Ayd Mill Rd trial. Duluth tried one way and then made changes. It seems as if there must be a way to heal all the animosity. Gail O'Hare St.Paul _____________________________________________ To Join: St. Paul Issues Forum Rules Discussion Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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