NOSMO KING

Although there were many bad outcomes of the election, one outcome was great for the city of Lincoln, the smoking ban!!! There will be no smoking in public places starting November 29th. The three exceptions are hotels and motels (which can set aside 20% of their rooms for smoking guests), laboratories that may still conduct research on smoking issues (kind of crazy that this falls under the smoking ban if it were not an exception), and outdoor seating areas.

There was a similar proposition that was brought up last year that would allow bars/restaurants to remain as smoking places despite the ban if more than a certain percentage of their profits came from anything other than food. I thought this was ridiculous since this defeats the whole purpose of reducing second-hand smoke and you know some bar owners, etc. paid some government worker to put that loophole in. However, that proposition didn't pass last year. At first I was upset because I wanted some restriction on smoking, but the ban that was passed on Tuesday is way better.

I like the ban on smoking in public places for many reasons. First of all, people won't be as likely to inhale second-hand smoke, which causes the same kind of damage as it does in smokers, yes even death. Secondly, asthmatics and allergy sufferers won't have asthma/allergy attacks, which again may cause death. Thirdly, it'll make getting a table faster at a restaurant since you won't have to wait for a non-smoking table. Finally, my clothes and hair won't reek of smoke ten minutes after I step into a bar/restaurant.

Whenever I think of NO SMOKING, I think of NOSMO KING. If you read Cleary's Ramona books, you know what I'm talking about, and hence the subject heading.