Hi, Rob--
I totally agree! I have tried to make that point, but they seem incapable of seeing the connection logically. Exasperating. This issue goes so far beyond personal "freedoms" that I am bewildered how they can only stick to the "leave me alone" point. I have mentioned things like elevators, occupancy codes, health ordinances. They always reply that "smoking is legal, and who are they to try to tell a private business what to do?" And that people can vote with their feet and go to a smoke-free bar. Yeah, hmmm..... which one would that be? I have said to them that one used to see spittoons in bars, too. Where are they now? I'm certain that they are illegal. Why, do you suppose? Chewing tobacco is still legal, too. So why can't I, as a bar owner, have spittoons??
Are you referring to the episode at the Hoggsbreath? I remember that..... From the ice machine, wasn't it? And then there was Woodbury Friday's with the campylobacter a few years ago, too. Wouldn't want to interfere with their "rights" would you? Or would you prefer to "vote with your feet" and go to a non-infectious bar/restaurant? I don't think that bacteria at large is a controlled substance, and is therefore in the area of "free will", isn't it? I, for one am actually very grateful for regulations that look out for our good health. And we take these for granted.
On Mar 10, 2005, at 3:46 PM, Fulton, Rob wrote:
Hi Bob...
Ask your bartenders if requiring three sinks for washing glasses, tile floors, hand washing sinks, ice scoops, etc are an invasion of private business also. Several years ago we had a major outbreak of Hepatitis A related to a person working in a bar, not properly washing his/her hands and infecting 29 people with the virus. We eventually had to give gamma globulin to over 1200 customers of the establishment.
Rob Fulton, Highland Park
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Bob Parker
Sent: Thursday, March 10, 2005 12:46 PM
To: Christian Friesen
Cc: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [StPaul] Rock'N Roll ...thanks, Bob...
Thanks, yourself! I have two very good friends, also bartenders, who are vehemently opposed to the ban on the grounds that it is an intrusion into a private business' right to operate that business as they see fit. I am frustrated that I can't convince them that regulating dangerous behavior is well within the jurisdiction of government.I know other bartenders that are simply concerned with a drop in income. I would concede that, but for the fact that sales in New York have proven otherwise. Someone made a snide remark about former smokers being holier-than-thou, and I guess it can be true to an extent. There can be a bit of sanctimony that can come from triumph. But, when I started smoking in the sixties there wasn't quite the amount of conclusive data that we now have, plus I feel that it was a "moment of clarity" that enabled me to rise from my ridiculous addiction. I was lucky. My Mom could only quit when my brother died. She still died from cancer. Bob Parker Dayton's Bluff
On Mar 10, 2005, at 9:06 AM, Christian Friesen wrote:
...for that posting. As a fellow bartender who quit due to the smoke being blown in my face and having difficulties breathing at the end of a busy night, I am looking forward to picking up some shifts again after the ban goes into effect -and being able to patronize these establishements for the first time now that they are smoke free. I am thrilled! And as per the posting re: smoking and child abuse, that should have been front and center before the business related ban. I believe you are found guilty of negligence when you consciously put your children into a risky setting...so, if I knowingly feed my child small doses of poison over a long period of time, how does that differ? I just don't think it does, and children are especially vulnerable citizens. Why _aren't_ we first protecting them within all of the wrangling over smoking?
Andrea Friesen W. 7th
------------------------------------------------- JOIN the St. Paul Issues Forum TODAY: http://www.e-democracy.org/stpaul/ ------------------------------------------------- POST MESSAGES HERE: [email protected]
To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul
Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/
------------------------------------------------- JOIN the St. Paul Issues Forum TODAY: http://www.e-democracy.org/stpaul/ ------------------------------------------------- POST MESSAGES HERE: [email protected]
To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul
Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/
