BAYNE Home Who is Floyd Other Sites Email Me Commentary-- Updated 2/6/06! WC Archives |
Floyd's Opinion
Smoke-Free RestaurantsSubmitted to Richmond Times Dispatch online Dear Sir, I do not smoke, never have. I do not care to be around smoke, never have. When I go out to eat at a restaurant, I prefer to enjoy my meal without the accompaniment of second-hand smoke. Having said that I wish to make it clear that I am totally against Governor Kaine's most recent sojourn into the Nanny State. There is so much that is wrong with this that I could take up an entire page of this newspaper with my reasons for hoping that the Governor's agenda does not come to pass. Does a private business owner really own his business or does the State? The Governor speaks of his conversation with a mysterious restaurateur, who laments his inability to make his business "smoke-free". Which State law is it, exactly, that is keeping this businessman from doing so on his own? As a consumer I have the option to eat at any restaurant I please. A business owner should have the freedom to cater to any clientele he wishes to attract. If this .Mystery Owner. wishes to make his business smoke-free, he has but to make it so. This means that he will attract non-smokers as well as those smokers who enjoy the food/service enough to not smoke while they are there. This equation is not that difficult to figure out. What is difficult to understand is how so many Virginians can just nod and accept more creeping-socialism from our State officials. I hear the comments made by non-smokers, "I think it's a great idea, I don't like smoke." This sounds reasonable to the non-smoker, until it is their ox that is being gored. What will Mr./Mrs. Non-smoker say when the State decides to abolish salt from their local eateries, because it contributes to high blood pressure? What will happen if your favorite eating establishment is told it can no longer serve your favorite mixed drink? Those of you who mock this possibility should know that such proposals have been made in other states. Do you really think that it can.t happen in the Old Dominion State? If this proposal comes to pass what do you think will be next on the Nanny State agenda? I hope that we still have enough representatives in the General Assembly with the backbone to toss this idea in the ashbin, where it belongs. Sincerely, Floyd C. Bayne
|
