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No Smoking Section
This week the state of Tennessee, and most of her public spaces, becomes yet another No Smoking section in the United States. The Tobacco Bowl is exempt from this ordinance, let me assure you all of that. 152 Madison is still a safe haven for all cigar smoking, pipe smoking and individual rights.
I don't have a problem with restrictions on smoking in true public places - in banks and grocery stores, government buildings and malls. But I still have difficulty wrapping my mind around the idea of the government coming into any small, privately-owned business in this country and telling its owner what legal activity he can or cannot allow.
I also have a problem with a business like Boscos restaurant jumping the gun on the mandate and going 100% non-smoking back in January. The fact that they chose to go smoke free isn't an issue with me, it's their business to run as they see fit (until tomorrow), but their reasoning, or the reason that they chose to trumpet in a recent Memphis Business Journal story - that they are concerned with the health of their customers - strikes me as blatantly insincere and patronizing. Boscos is a business that encourages its guests to consume as much vodka, scotch, gin or tequila, as well as their very own wonderful brewed beer, as possible. The long-term effects of drinking alcohol, as well as the immediate effects just before getting behind the wheel to get back home, are well-known. I'm not suggesting that Boscos's management condones over-imbibing and then driving, but there are those patrons who fall through the cracks and can damage their health or the health of another driver. If you want your business to be completely smoke free then that's fine, but don't insult us by telling us you chose to go non-smoking 10 months before the government required it because you take my health to heart, so to speak.
But I digress. My intention here was to make you aware that my shop is still smoker-friendly and to remind you that I've made it as comfortable as possible with expanded seating, three TVs with DirectTV, XM Radio, newspapers, magazines and good conversation. I suppose my intention here, as long as we're promoting honesty, is also to ask you to come in and buy something. There's a lot of cool new stuff on the shelves from humidors and ashtrays to cigars and pipes. We're here for your comfort and for your personal rights, but it isn't cheap. Please stop by and see us soon.
Posted by Richard Alley at 07:36 PM | Comments (0)