judecorp | Anti-Smoking Bans (Reply)

smithee asked me to write about the anti-smoking ban in Columbus. And of course I would do absolutely anything for

smithee, because he's quite possibly one of the most attractive men I've ever met. He's exactly the sort of man/boy I get attracted to: adorable, baby-faced, quiet, intelligent, artistic, well-dressed, soft-spoken. *swoon* But anyway...

Smoking bans are something I'm quite familiar with. I don't know exactly when Rhode Island and Massachusetts enacted a smoking ban in restaurants, but it was a good portion of my life. And when I lived in Maine, they enacted a smoking ban in restaurants there, too. In fact, I feel comfortable saying that when I moved to Ohio in 2000, I was more shocked by the /lack/ of smoking ban than anything else. I'd just become used to it, and when there were people smoking in restaurants, I was floored. And disgusted.

As a non-smoker, there's few things I like less than smelling cigarette smoke when I'm trying to eat. I'm pretty sensitive to smoke, and I don't like the way the smell coats my tongue and obstructs my food. If an establishment has a whole smoking room, that's fine, but the idea of a "smoking section" is so ridiculous - does smoke not dissipate into the air? And I always end up at that seat that's right at the border of smoking and non-smoking. Gross.

I'm very sensitive to cigarette smoke, probably from living with smokers my whole life, and prolonged exposure to cigarette smoke in a bar setting will often leave me with watery eyes, a stuffed nose, and a sore throat. Sometimes my tonsils will swell due to smoke, and if you know my Tonsil Drama History, this is not good. Yet I was leery of the concept of a non-smoking bar, thinking that patrons would stop coming and bars would be boring. Then I experienced non-smoking bars in Boston and New York City and saw that was, in fact, not true. It was so refreshing! I could go to a bar and NOT have to fumigate my clothes! I could go to a bar and stay for a long time WITHOUT feeling like I was swallowing a porcupine! Amazing!

So, in short, I think the smoking ban in Columbus is a FANTASTIC idea, even though I don't live there. Because if/when I go visit again, I can spend more time in bars and clubs. Which means, my dear

smithee, that you'll have to catch a drink with me somewhere.

(N.B. This anti-smoking opinion puts me in serious disfavor with my father, who earns money from the tobacco industry through distribution of cigarette machines in bars. But there you have it. I think smoking is one of the most disgusting things ever, though if that's what a consenting adult wants, have at it. And even though I grew up with a grandfather who used to smoke, a mother who used to smoke, a father who chain-smoked until he had a heart attack in 2001, a step-mother who was a chimney, and a brother who was an on-again off-again smoker, I have never so much as tried a single puff of a cigarette. And never had the desire. Which I suppose in some ways makes me a total nerd.)