From Zenon M. Feszczak Sent Thu, Jul 23rd 1998, 16:22
Dear beatheads - The U.S. anti-smoking fascism is a bit of a laugh. I recommend that all responsible citizens take up smoking as a metaphorical statement in support of this nation's much-discussed and apparently little-realized freedom. Besides, smoking might actually ameliorate the patriotically reverse-Puritanical American tradition of obesity, not to mention improving one's social life ("Do you have a light, by any chance?"), and offering a convenient excuse for taking more breaks on the job. Whether one's smoking "offends" another is a bit ridiculous in most circumstances. The fashion sense of most people in this provincial metropolis is appallingly offensive, and yet I don't ask people - "Would you change your clothing please? It's giving me a migraine." Although that might in fact be a viable idea... One shouldn't be allowed to call a smokeless place of business which sells you dirty water in a paper cup with a dash of foam and calls it cappucino for $3.50 a "cafe". Last time we walked into an empty to-be-unnamed Seattlish coffee chain and were kindly greeted with "This is a smoke-free environment", we responded "It's also a customer-free environment" and walked. Another point to ponder: if the motivation behind the anti-smoking legislation is truly a concern with _health_, then why wasn't McDonald's banned from the face of this earth? For that matter, cars should be banned as well, as most "drivers" are a hazard to themselves (speaking from recent experience, as a red-light runner has just recently displaced the front portion of my own vehicle to a distance of 20m from the other part, in which I happened to be situated). Evidently the Big Mac lobby, not to mention the auto-making industry, are a bit too powerful, no? Ironic that tobacco built this country, and now it's the devil incarnate. Just after we convinced the rest of the world to inhale, we go and change the rules. Ah, the precociousness of the young nation. It's all big business, nothing whatsoever to do with public health. The business of America is business, or is it litigation? Anyone have a light? Cough, 3 on now: PowerMac fan hum + "Chill Out or Die II"