Smoking Kills || February 22, 2007
While in Seattle, I happened upon the Bodies exhibit, a near-copy of Body Worlds currently at the Science Place here in Dallas. For the uninitiated, the show contains a series of corpses preserved, dissected and displayed with all kinds of biological and scientific info nearby, along with lots of individual body parts and special displays (bonus points go to the cool circulatory system displays). $26 for entry is steep, yeah, but I still enjoyed it.
In the respiratory room, a huge glass box was full of cigarette cartons. Next to it was a blackened lung, ravaged by years of smoking, and a sign that read: "One carton shortens your life by 2 hours and 20 minutes. We want you to live longer. Throw your cigarettes in here." The box was plenty full, a sign that a real blackened lung has more impact than the average health class scare photo.
It was the most I dealt with smoking while on the trip, since Washington state regulates smoking in all public buildings. And I think it cleared my vision, going to bars and nightclubs and not worrying that I have to leave a nice jacket or shirt in the car or hack my lungs up. Feel free to compare me to Laura Miller here, but my Dallas dream is to see the same thing happen in bars and clubs here--force smokers to go outside for their fix. As I've aged, I always thought I'd get tired of going to concerts, but that's really not the case...the only reason I skip concerts is so I can breathe the next day (and save myself a quicker trip to the washer/dryer for smoke-ridden clothes).
I'm sick of other people's unwillingness to walk 20 feet to smoke. I can't imagine anybody, smoker or non, wants to reek of the stuff thanks to a night out, either. Hell, Secret HQ forces people to smoke outdoors--even DIY gets it! Some might say the current wave of "tough times" hyperbole press makes this a dumb thing to suggest, but I'd say otherwise: encourage the uninitiated to come out, start a debate amongst the current scene and put public attention on clubs in a way other than "boo, hoo, doom and gloom." Thoughts? Action?
In the respiratory room, a huge glass box was full of cigarette cartons. Next to it was a blackened lung, ravaged by years of smoking, and a sign that read: "One carton shortens your life by 2 hours and 20 minutes. We want you to live longer. Throw your cigarettes in here." The box was plenty full, a sign that a real blackened lung has more impact than the average health class scare photo.
It was the most I dealt with smoking while on the trip, since Washington state regulates smoking in all public buildings. And I think it cleared my vision, going to bars and nightclubs and not worrying that I have to leave a nice jacket or shirt in the car or hack my lungs up. Feel free to compare me to Laura Miller here, but my Dallas dream is to see the same thing happen in bars and clubs here--force smokers to go outside for their fix. As I've aged, I always thought I'd get tired of going to concerts, but that's really not the case...the only reason I skip concerts is so I can breathe the next day (and save myself a quicker trip to the washer/dryer for smoke-ridden clothes).
I'm sick of other people's unwillingness to walk 20 feet to smoke. I can't imagine anybody, smoker or non, wants to reek of the stuff thanks to a night out, either. Hell, Secret HQ forces people to smoke outdoors--even DIY gets it! Some might say the current wave of "tough times" hyperbole press makes this a dumb thing to suggest, but I'd say otherwise: encourage the uninitiated to come out, start a debate amongst the current scene and put public attention on clubs in a way other than "boo, hoo, doom and gloom." Thoughts? Action?
9 Comments:
im a nonsmoker. the selfish part of me loves it when i go to austin and can come back and i dont reek. but theres another part of me that realizes, im in a bar, i get what i expect, and get over it. its fully within peoples right to light up at a club. the only time i get really hacked is when the ventilation sucks and the clubs are too fucking cheap to get a decent filter system.
now at a restaurant its distracting. if theres no smoking, most smokers are too weak to be able to make it through a meal w/o going outside. some that i know wont even go certain places because they cant light up.
The problem is that here, you're truly choosing what you "expect." The notion that smoking is hand-in-hand with rock music is the kind of bullshit companies in Virginia have spent billions to convince you to believe.
And ventilation sucks at pretty much every concert venue around Dallas, which is actually another great reason for this conversation.
Since moving back to Dallas, I have really noticed the difference it makes when a venue is a nonsmoking establishment. I guess I just got spoiled in Portland and Rochester.
Didn't Dallas try this once? I could have sworn it did. What happened?
I know I'd love to be able to go home after a show (or a drink) and not offend my cats with stale stench. And I've definitely given Zero Odor spray enough dough over the years.
Also, after having to sing in smokey places, I'll attest that it's difficult for non-smoker. Either that or I'm a total wuss. Well, I am a total wuss, but it's also difficult.
most bands smoke. most bands audiences smoke, especially when drinking. thats what i know im getting into.
I totally agree.
The whole "people will stop going to venues!" and "people should expect to deal with that in clubs" excuses are, as Sam puts it, bullshit. I have lived in two regions (Victoria, BC and now Seattle) in which the smoking ban has been debated, tossed about, and eventually put into action. The smokers and bar owners made the same doom-and-gloom predictions about people refusing to attend shows and businesses everywhere spiraling into bankruptcy that most people speak of when this topic is brought up. In the end, clubs continued to fill up to capacity and people I knew who previously refused to attend shows because of the inevitable stinky haze started going out.
And this doesn't apply down here in the states as much as it did in Canada but man, I sure appreciated knowing my tax dollars weren't going to some poor, overly-prescriptioned, asthmatic busboy who had to breathe that crap in all night during his shift.
You can't kill the music scene by banning smoking in public places. You might inconvenience some patrons and perhaps a few musicians but they'll get over it and deal (maybe even quit! bonus!). The non-smokers have had to deal for way too long. It's someone else's turn.
I'm all for a ban Sam. The crowd I hang out with would rather not go out to a bar than wade through a cloud of smoke. Most places in Florida voluntarily banned smoking while I was there.
As a person that only socially smokes at shows, part of that reason is that I am already breathing it. The other reason is that is a social crutch i've had for years. I smoked for 12 years before I stopped smoking on a daily basis. I'm actually for prohibition for cigarettes, not just in no smoking in clubs. People will get over it. Take the shit off the market already. They'll have to find something else to "sin tax" then. Maybe rock n roll or dancing maybe?
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