To whom this may concern,
"The way we're thinking about it is that this is an opportunity for our team members to take a real great stand on behalf of good health," said Eat N Park Vice Chairman Basil Cox.
The above quote was taken from a story run by KDKA today about the Allegheny County Council’s passing of an ordinance to ban smoking in public buildings in the county; this includes bars and restaurants. I do not know the extent to which basil Cox and Eat N Park supported this action, however, his statement is telling enough.
If Eat N Park wanted to take a “real good stand on behalf of good health”, they could have eliminated smoking in their restaurants long ago, instead they chose to support a bill that would force business owners to remove their smoking sections. It’s not difficult to see why Eat N Park would choose to support the legislative route instead of truly taking a stand; money. A lot of Eat N Park’s business in their Allegheny County establishments comes from the after-hours crowd of bar patrons looking for a place to grab a bite to eat, have some coffee and wind down before making their way home. By 2:30am, there’s not an Eat N Park in the area that does not have a steady stream of bar patrons entering, ordering, eating and paying their bills; a large portion of those patrons smoke. If Eat N Park truly took “a real great stand on behalf of good health”, the smoking patrons would have had the ability to choose to go to another establishment, one of Eat N Park’s competitors. That’s called freedom of choice, embodied in the freedom for a business owner to decide whether or not to offer a smoking section and the freedom for patrons to make their decisions on which establishments to frequent accordingly. That choice was taken away today for Allegheny County residents.
There are a number of remedies that were and continue to be available to those that wish to “take a real great stand on behalf of good health”. For one, Eat N Park could have done a better job on implementing their smoking sections and instead of using a few panes of glass with huge openings, they could have improved (or added) ventilation and better sectional design which could have mitigated the whole notion of secondhand smoke for their patrons (all in the name of good health of course). The County Council could have chosen to mandate a stricter set of requirements for what constitutes a ‘smoking section’ and laid down some hard rules for ventilation and sectioning. Yes, these measures would have cost business owners a good deal of money, but what do you think this ban is going to do? A number of small businesses, especially bars that serve food are going to get killed by this ban. Now, instead of having to spend money to keep themselves competitive and in business, some of them may have to start looking for a new line of work.
The end results? Small bars and other small business that depend on the revenue generated from tobacco products and serve the culture that smokes will take a hit financially. There will be increased smoking outside of the premises of many of these buildings (what, did you think smokers would give up and go away?), which will lead to more complaints about secondhand smoke (now everyone will have to drag their children in through a could of cigarette smoke to get from the car in the parking lot to the inside of the establishment). So how far can this silly rabbit hole go? Will the next ban be on smoking in public completely (indoors and out)? Will smokers soon find themselves breaking the law if they have a cigarette in their car on the drive home?
I’m a semi-frequent Eat N Park patron (love those Breakfast Smiles), but the way I’m thinking about this is that it is an opportunity for myself to take a real great stand on behalf of individual freedom. Eat N Park will never again see a penny of my hard-earned money, not in Allegheny County or any other county for that matter. And any other business that pushed for or supported this measure will be treated the same. As far as the council members, that’s up to county residents to handle. As HL Mencken once said, “the urge to save humanity is almost always only a false-face for the urge to rule it”.
Sincerely,
NineseveN - a fomer Eat N Park customer
As far as I am concerned Santorum has become an opportunist seeking his own rather than representing the people who voted for him.
