Democratic and Liberal political analysis and commentary

Claire, I know you personally where involved with this issue for some time and I thank you for your efforts. There were so many restaurants that I would no longer go to because of the smoke. Some restaurants may not like this law today, but they will. Every city that has passed similiar laws are now happy that they did.
Good piece.

Being a liberal I am not enamored with unbridled free market crap, but there is the thought that if smoking in any given restaurant was having a detrimental effect on the customer base for that restaurant then the owners, via free market theories, would have enacted a no smoking rule for the restaurant and we would arrive at the same point, at least for some restaurants.

Writing laws works because we smokers are a much more amenable group and we will frequent smoke free restaurants even if we are deprived of the pleasure of smoking during and after our meal in the presence of company. What may happen, however, is that our meals may take longer to complete as we run outside for a smoke every ten minutes and after our meal. Being more stressed we will probably be more persnickety about the food and send more back or hassle the wait staff or the kitchen. Longer meal times will reduce turnover, impacting owners, by serving fewer meals, making customers wait longer for open tables, injuring the dining experience for all as they have to listen to more haranguing from stressed out smokers.

As with most things all may not be bliss.