Smoking Ban Comes Into Force In Scotland

[Barbarossa]

But I won't get to go out to the pub or a decent nightclub anymore. It sucks.

Personally I'm all for smoking bans in workplaces, restaurants, nearly all public places. But a pub is somewhere you can go to have a pint and a smoke after work and unwind. Not anymore.

I just don't see how you can't satisfy smokers and non-smokers by having smoking and non-smoking venues.

So a person can't have a bar smoking bar in Scotland...as in THE FOLKS HERE COME IN HERE TO SMOKE AND DRINK?

I'd think an owner would have the right to that say if a person doesn't like smoke, GTFO.

The owner would pay the price in the market. He/she wouldn't get non-smoker business.

A place specifically for the purpose and a sign on the door sounds good enough. A non-smoker comes in, he can't complain. Otherwise, he's just being a bitch. He'd be like a guy going into a nudey bar complaining about the nekkid ladies. GTFO then.

The law is also in place to protect the people who work in clubs and bars. People have a right not to be forced to endure passive smoking in the workplace.

It's nothing like your analogy about a bloke complaining about seeing naked women. You can't die from looking at naked women. You can die from passive smoking.

[Skillian]

If it's a bar that allows smoking (maybe with a sign saying Beware: Dirty smokers inside) then neither staff or customers are being "forced" to breathe smoke.

The analogy is fine - you don't like naked women, you don't go to a strip club. As consumers we make these kinds of choices every day.

[Barbarossa]

If it's a bar that allows smoking (maybe with a sign saying Beware: Dirty smokers inside) then neither staff or customers are being "forced" to breathe smoke.

It's very hard for bar-staff to serve drinks from outside the pub.

[Skillian]

And illegal, natch.

What I'm saying is that they've chosen to work there, just like the girls in the strip club aren't being forced to take off their clothes. It is a career choice.

[Barbarossa]

Working behind a bar is a career choice?

Don't think so. Usually, someone does it because they desperately need the money. I suppose, if you want to keep this wacky analogy, it's similar to the strippers, except they get paid alot more.

All the strippers really need to worry about is maybe catching a bit of a chill while at work, whereas the bar-staff need to worry about the possibility of throat-cancer, because apparently that's an acceptable occupational hazard for bar staff in your world

Bring on the ban in England too.

[Skillian]

What about the Muslims and Mormons who are forced to sell alcohol when working in these bars? Ban alcohol now!

[Barbarossa]

The trap you're trying to set for me is that you think I'm going to say "But they wouldn't choose to work there", from which you will counter that the same should be true for non-smokers.

However, I think it would be OK for a Muslim to work behind a bar, so long as you don't force them have a drink!

[Skillian]

It's definitely not OK for Muslims to work serving alcohol, so they choose not to work there if it is offensive to them.

Anyway, I've already lost this argument - the ban comes into force next year here. Guess I should start to appreciate the taste of canned beer instead of draft (draught?).

[Barbarossa]

You could always try quitting smoking? :

Or at least, waiting until you're out in the open air. I'm thinking pub crawls are going to be even more common than they were before...

[Skillian]

You could always try quitting smoking? :.

Heh, yeah that's true. But it's my perverse nature. If the government want to force me to quit, I'm gonna start smoking two packs a day instead of one - that'll show 'em.