Smoking Ban Sucks Ashes

"How is the Dane County, Wisconsin smoking ban working out?" you ask.

It sucks ashes.

Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk signed into law an ordinance that bans smoking in the unincorporated areas of Dane County. So, as of Saturday, you can't smoke at our bar although you can smoke at bars 6 miles in any direction (incorporated areas).

"Well," you're probably thinking, "that must be great for business."

Our receipts from last Saturday were less than 1/2 of any of the prior Saturdays. Probably just a coincidence.

1) The smoking ban was passed (supposedly) to keep employees from having an unsafe work environment. We have no employees. Based upon the reaction to the smoking ban, we're not likely to need employees any time soon.

2) At one point on Saturday, we had 14 patrons sitting/standing outside and NONE inside the building. I just locked the doors so that I could sit outside with everyone else. That is what I call a safe environment.

3) If the smoking ban was a wise business move, our business would have banned smoking. Neither Jack nor I are smokers and we can both live without having clothes smell like smoke all of the time. However, the business is a tavern. People go to taverns to drink alcohol and smoke tobacco. Now they just don't go to ours, and they have to drive an extra 6 miles.

4) Why not ban the freedom of assembly period? Then we would all be free from exposure to second-hand smoke, dust, perfume, deodorant, peanuts, mold, asbestos, gluten, latex, body odor, halitosis, foot fungus, and MSG. Just think of the health cost savings if we each lived in our own little oxygen tent.