The Problem with My State...

Well, let's be honest. There are A LOT of problems with my state, but this one in particular has got my blood boiling today.

This is precisely why I refuse to live in anywhere outside of the county in which I currently live (which, it just so happens, is the only one in the state where members of the dominant religion are the minority). I'm sorry, but where does "personal choice" come into play here? Isn't it pretty obvious that there would be smoke inside of a hooka bar? And that being the case, doesn't it stand to reason that the people going into a hooka bar would be aware of that fact?

Sure, don't smoke in buildings where no one expect there to be smoke, but in a bar? And in a hooka bar for that matter? COME ON! I'm not saying that everyone who goes to a bar smokes. I am saying, though, that people EXPECT THERE TO BE SMOKE IN BARS, and personally I don't think there are too many people out there who thought to themselves: "Wow! No more secondhand smoke in the bar! That means I can go in there and destroy my liver without having to worry about lung cancer. That is so awesome!"

In fact, I'm prett sure the people who were all petitioning the state to crack down on the whole indoor smoking thing are the same ones that would prefer to ban the smoking of cigarettes (and everything else) all together. And drinking, for that matter, because the sight of alcohol being poured and mixed behind the bar at Applebee's might polute the innocence of a child's mind. All those brightly colored alcoholic beverages, and the smiling people enjoying them could seriously scar a poor child's mind, and just that glimpse is more than enough to turn them to a life of SIN!

I wish I were exaggerating. They recently took wine coolers and what not (i.e. bitch beer) out of gas stations and grocery stores for the same reason, because such things were OBVIOUSLY intended to be purchased by underaged drinkers, and because the rest of us should be subjected to the morals and standards of the fundamentalist that founded the place.

For those of you that have never been here, consider yourselves lucky. It used to be that if you wanted to even go into a bar around here you had to put your name in the database and become a "member," or you had to be with someone who was already a member AND still put your name in the database. Thankfully that law has been done away with, only it was replaced with a scan of your ID. That sure does make it convenient for the DOT to see where you are on a Friday night, doesn't it?

Oh, Brother Big. You sure do keep a close eye on us.