Smoke Free Chicago

I completely agree with you on the outdoors smoking, Darwood. However, i have to disagree a little on the indoors smoking. From a customer standpoint, having a separated, sealed room with properly configured ventilation is perfectly acceptable. I actually know a few bars that were like that. However, from the employee standpoint, some sort of concession has to be made.

While this bill passed because non-smoking customers tend to form the majority now and they want their health protected, the occasional amounts of second hand smoke we used to endure when going out weren't all that harmful to us. Rather, they were harmful to the employees that had to work every day in those conditions. Those employees are the ones that are truly reaping the benefits of smoking bans. It would seem to almost be a step backwards to force them to continue to endure a smoking room while the customers who don't smoke can enjoy a non-smoking room.

I'm not saying that it couldn't happen, but i would think a few things would have to be in place before we could let it - hazardous pay, restrictions on the number of shifts per week you can work in that room, etc. If you have enough employees, give each of them one night a week to work in the smoking room (voluntary of course - they can refuse) and pay them double for that shift. Of course, this may increase the prices on the menu in the smoking room, but hey, if you have enough money sitting there that you can spend a significant amount of it killing yourself, you can afford an extra buck per item on the menu.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(eagle33199 @ Oct 2 2007, 01:48 PM) [snapback]520426[/snapback]</div>

Why would the employees have to go in there?
I'm not envisioning waitress service inside said "smoke cage".
It would be a small, well ventilated room full of ashtrays.
Once a night, an employee would go in there after the customers are gone and the smoke has cleared to do a little cleaning.
The only reason I think this should be allowed is the cold climate here in MN, and the ugly fact that smoking is still done by the majority of the typical "barfly". This isn't something I envision as needed at every bar. Just a few that would cater to the black lung groups. There's enough violence associate to problem drinkers already. Now put them on nic fits, and you have a recipe for disaster in the form of more bar fights, more drinkers staying at home, some of which may pose a danger to their children, and a real decreas in the overall bar revenue. At least give them a few token bars, where they are not alienated. There are plenty of bar workers that smoke themselves too, BTW, and who would not complain about entering the "smoking chamber" or that may have problems with "nic fits' too.