The smoke ban in all the places of New York raised a great issue in society. Smokers are asked not smoke in most of the pubs and clubs. Recently my friends and I went to the city to celebrate a friend's birthday. We went to a pub in down town which was really good and we were having fun. Two of my friends who are heavy smokers were about to light up their cigarettes when a big sign board reading "SMOKING HERE IS RUDE.DON'T DO IT.", in big red letters caught their attention. Mayor Michael Bloomberg's total indoor smoking ban had my friends this time.
On seeing the sign board my friends went to the bar table and asked the bartender if there was any smoking area, and the bartender replied that they had no smoking room inside and have to go outside the place to smoke. Those two guys felt out of place because of the impolite attitude of the people owning the place towards smokers and wanted to leave.
English: New York Mayor, Michael R. Bloomberg.
Michael Bloomberg was affiliated with Salomon Brot...
New York Mayor, Michael R. Bloomberg.They came down to us and told what had happened and we left the place straight away and walked into another club, only to find out that smoking was not allowed there either. We ended up staying there and watching my two friends walk out the club every ten minutes for their cigarettes.
The first impression I had in my mind was how rude can the society get towards smokers. I felt they were deprived of their rights. Those letters on the sign board were big and discriminating against the complete community of smokers. In a country where civil rights are given the highest of priorities, this ban shows a perfect example of snatching away the freedom and imposing a new rule on them. Discrimination is word that...
Great
I was really interested to read this as the Scottish Parliament have also recently passed a law that will come into effect in 2006, banning smoking in ALL indoor public places, i.e. clubs, pubs, restaurants. People here cannot believe it has happened, this country is predominantly working class and EVERYONE here smokes, the non-smoking population is by far the minority. While people completely understand this is WHY a ban has been issued (the cancer rates in Glasgow are the highest in Europe), nobody here can see how it will work. A gradual ban might be more effective. The bottom line is that people smoke, everyone smokes, very few of these people are going to stop. This ban will probably benefit the next generation, but it will either hit business very very hard, or businesses will completely ignore it.
I am a non-smoker myself, and I agree with smoking ban in, restaurants, for example. But banning smoking in pubs and clubs is entirely unrealistic, and I do not think it will work, people here will not stand for it, and I actually really think that clubs here will not stand for it. This country has a massive drinking culture and that goes hand in hand with smoking...the city can also have a very violent nature and a lot of people are not going to take to being told they can't smoke in a pub very well.
The country is also made up of many rural villages, where, for a lot of people, their only social outlet is to go down the local pub for a drink and a smoke...what will they do?
I've gone off on a tangent here, sorry, but I did find that particularly interesting, especially as you say the ban appears to be highly unpopular...and I imagine New York has less smokers than Glasgow in the first place.
Great essay, really thought-provoking, well researched - you certainly had statistics to back your argument up. The only thing I can think of that might improve it is to include information about people's reactions to the ban at first...did they flout it, or did everyone accept it grudgingly?
well done!
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