Ban Behavior
My bar hopping last night was limited to Neumo’s—where cigarette smoke was as prevalent as it always is—but I did hear a couple people talking about the ban. The comments were a mix of smokers happy for an excuse to quit, non-smokers happy to avoid all the chemicals in the air when they go out, and people on both sides of the issue perplexed about how this is all going to be enforced. The fact that we have a law in effect that has no clear way of being put into action is really frustrating. I really want a smoking ban—minus the 25 foot rule and plus a clear explanation of exactly who is in charge of making it happen. In the end, though, I’m sure the city will settle into what exactly this means, and the anti-smoking ban folks will realize that just like what happened in NY and San Francisco, our nightlife is in no danger of going extinct.
Last night at Boeing in Everett a janitor who smokes accidentally set a trash compactor on fire when he lobbed a butt into it. The result was a full on emergency with fire crews and Boeing Security called out. The loading dock was filled with the smell of burnt plastics and other trash. Extra work crews were called in to clean up the mess. The worker was violating Boeing policy of no smoking within 25 feet of the loading dock doors(in effect before the ban was passed). The irony seemed lost on most at the scene, though I didn't speak with the fire fighters about that.