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Originally Posted by Lilith
Smokers are people.
Smoking is a behavior.
That's why the signs say "no smoking" instead of "no smokers" as opposed to this thread. The idea usually being to discourage the behavior while still welcoming all people. Again as opposed to this thread.
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Oh, I don't know Lil. People who smoke are still people...yet those who impose the rules push us further away with a non-smoking ban in a mandatory dimensional area...ie: Merck's ruling of a mile distance...or an area so far removed from an establishment that we have to brave the elements and risk our health further, such as a designated areas across the parking lot at the furthest side of said establishment...or, better yet, no consideration at all...no cans to outen the cigs, no area to go to so as not offend.
I think it's all semantics! I see a sign that says, "No Smoking" and I feel unwelcomed...but I will bite the bullet if all who I am with really want to go in. If I ever saw a sign that said, "No Smoker's", I would still have a choice and I'd still feel unwelcomed! The signs I usually see say, This is a non-smoking establishment. Smoking is prohibited and violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law". Most of these places...yes, MOST of them...never supply a place to put out your butt before entering and/or a place to smoke that will not offend (ie: a lean-to, outside and away from the building) That to me says...WE DO NOT WELCOME SMOKERS!
It's semantics, I tell you!
What if you were suddenly told that peeing was only acceptable in a public establishment's bathrooms if you were drinking their beer or liquor along with eating their food (in other words...abiding by their house rules). What if you had always pee'd there before and it was your most favorite place to frequent. OK...so you have the choice to quit going there if you don't drink alcohol...or you can get a drink and hope they don't see you NOT drinking it if you really didn't want it...or you can get sloshed and pee to your hearts content. But, this particular place has set it up so that there is no alternative place to pee...like an outhouse. Don't you think it cuts off their nose to spite their face to not let you pee SOMEWHERE?
On the flip side...Moe's Place, down the road, has the same rules with the exception of an alternative place to pee. He has a "Spot-a-Pot" for men and women who don't drink just outside his back entrance...not too troublesome to get to, but far enough away to not offend those customers who have paid good money for a drink.
Who gets the better business?
It's semantics I tell ya!