Out of the Smoke

I knew it would eventually happen.

Lately, I've been seeing those commercials for the smokeless cigarettes all over the airwaves. You know the ones:

“It's water vapor.”

“Now I can smoke anywhere.”

“This is a free country, isn't it?”

Well, recently, at a restaurant (a non-smoking restaurant I should add) a customer “lit up” his smokeless cigarette. When the waitress went over to as him to put it out or go outside to smoke, he went off on her that it was not a real cigarette and he could smoke it wherever he wanted. The waitress informed him that he still could not use it in the restaurant.

The man started yelling at the waitress and making a spectacle of himself. The manager came over to try and settle the situation. He calmly explained to the man that even though it was a “smokeless cigarette”, he couldn't allow him to use it in the restaurant since it would give the impression to people who smoke real cigarettes that they could light up as well.

Of course, the man wasn't accepting that and continued to make a scene. Finally, the frazzled manager asked the man to leave. The angry man threatened to call the police and have them come to the restaurant and force them to allow him to smoke his smokeless cigarette.

What did he expect the police to do? They are there to enforce the laws and ordinances on the books. They could no more force the restaurant to allow him to use his smokeless cigarette than they could force them to serve a different type of food.

Finally, the man and his group left the restaurant. As he walked out, he proclaimed loudly that he was going to sue the restaurant and put them out of business.

This is a case of a smoker who only thinks of himself and no one else. He can't see the reasoning behind the restaurant's policy. If he did, he would realize that most people who smoke aren't going to change their habit and switch to the smokeless cigarettes (besides, the tobacco companies would be fighting it tooth and nail). Also, the mentality of most smokers seems to be that if one person lights up somewhere then they all can regardless of the rules. (I've actually seen this happen before)

Many smokers believe they have a legal right to smoke. I don't remember anywhere in the Constitution of the United States or any law books I've read seeing a legal right to smoke. Of course, they will say it's a first amendment right of free speech. Really? Smoking is free speech? Wow!

I applaud the stand the manager took at the restaurant that evening. In fact, I even told him so before I left. I only hope that as this continues to happen, more business owners will stand up and enforce their no smoking policy as vigorously.