I was in Waco recently and Amanda and I had IHOP. I love IHOP. When I first met Matt we used to go to the IHOP in the middle of the night and have pancakes and coffee and just talk; soak up our time together. Living in Stephenville, there’s no IHOP in sight, not something I’m pleased about, by the way. When Amanda and I went into the IHOP I looked around and something wasn’t right. Other than the fact that it was a new IHOP on New Road, rather than the old standby on University Parks, there wasn’t a smoking section. I asked her, “do they have smoking?” She looked at me for a minute before shaking her head, her reply, “Waco is non-smoking now, remember?” It’s been too long, I hadn’t remembered. I’m not a big smoker, it’s strictly a social activity for me, but Amanda smokes.
When I first came to Waco, to visit Matt, before I moved to Texas, he and I went to eat at Johnny Carino’s. I had never even heard of Johnny’s but I love it, they have the best Italian hands down. We went in, and the smiling, shiny hostess with perfect hair asked us, “Smoking or non?” I just stood and looked at her for a long minute, then I turned my questioning gaze on Matt. He smiled, put his hand on my back, and said, “Smoking.” The girl showed us to our table, in the smoking section. I grew up in California, smoking in public in California is not only against the law, it’s totally taboo.
Now, don’t get me wrong, California doesn’t lock you up for having a cigarette on the sidewalk…yet. They’re very anti-smoking, though. I was driving down the side of highway 215 into Riverside once when I spotted a billboard that said, “At least you can still smoke in your car” and had showed only half the pack of Winston’s, so it said “Wins…” Apparently, it’s also illegal to show the image of a cigarette logo. So, smoking in restaurants never even occurred to me, as I was very young when the non-smoking laws took effect. Neither of my parents smoke, unless you consider my daddy’s pipe smoking. Hence my surprise when I came to Texas, 20 years old, and they’re asking me “smoking or non.”
Several years after I had moved to Waco, some locals pulled a nasty trick and got non-smoking on the ballot. Now, it’s not completely non-smoking, after the initiative passed restaurants have a month or so to outfit their restaurants with a whole separate room, with separate ventilation for smokers. Apparently, smokers are the new lepers. The initiative was set up by a local restaurant owner to drive business to his place -which has since gone out of business. This stupid non-smoking law actually put the local Pancho’s out of business. The draw to Pancho’s was that you could have all you can eat Tex-Mex and smoke. It was brilliant, until non-smoking.
When we moved to Stephenville two years ago, we were able to smoke in restaurants again. So, we actually started eating in restaurants again. You see, when the non-smoking law passed in Waco, Matt started boycotting all restaurants that were non-smoking. Imagine how I suffered! All my favorite places were now off-limits, except Johnny’s and Red Lobster and only on special occasions. Matt sees it as an affront to his human rights.
Things have changed so much. There’s definitely a problem when you can’t smoke in Texas. What’s next, outlawing bar-b-que? I can’t even seem to keep strait where smoking is allowed, and where it’s not. All I know is that smoke is strictly off limits in California. At least they’re unified on that front. Smoking laws differ city to city here. I really hate to see things change like this. I love Texas, though I don’t care much for most “southern ethics.” I’ve had some of the best times of my adult life in Texas and to see these changes makes me yearn for the old days. The days when Matt and I used to just go to the park, or to our favorite haunt, IHOP, and talk all night.
Carpe Noctem, seize the night! Smoking and IHOP represented my happiness, and you can’t even smoke in IHOP anymore.
Kristyn
I remember those days at IHOP. Funny thing is, I went to the IHOP here a few months back…guess what, it’s smoking here. Which I was surprised though, seeing how much has chnaged around here but thinking back on those “good ole days”, whatever happened to our civil rights? You know, the right to cause cancer to not only ourselves but the loved ones around us as well.
No smoking in my county anymore, but when we could, I brought my dad to a Waffle House. He looked really uncomfortable and almost got up to smoke outside. But then he got really into it. He looked so pleased.
I totally sympathesize with your plight. Though I don’t smoke, I’m a libertarian in favor of allowing smoking in some way in most establishments(and allowing at least stand-alone bars to decide this issue for themselves, as they’re adult establishments, and not catering to children), and I’m beyond sick of the stupid anti-smoking groups who really exaggerate lies about the detrimental effects of smoking to death! (though I don’t disagree there are some detriments) Not to mention I’ve tried to write emails against smoking bans, too. If you want, I can email you a really stupid responce I got(maybe you’ll get a laugh or 2 out of the fallacious claims he makes for a ban, since I did) from one of the really beyond brainwashed idiotic councilmen in another town to the east that I wrote to against a smoking ban there(which sadly later ended up passing). At least some of the councilmen and aldermen I’ve written to have agreed with me on my emails against smoking bans, as I sincerely worry that more personal liberties may get stepped on, if smoking bans aren’t stopped.
The anti-smoking groups have especially spread like a virus in the north and central parts of the state I live in(Illinois), especially around Chicagoland, and I’m still kicking myself that I didn’t testify against a smoking ban in either of the 2 towns in the area that both recently passed bans(Normal, IL, where my college is in, and the bigger town to the south, Bloomington). I know next year is gonna be tough too, since the major annoying anti group in my state is about to embark on a unnecessary quest to get a strict statewide ban passed next year(when already I feel its unnecessary, as ENOUGH damn places are already 100% non-smoking). Always remember to be proactive in your state against bans, and consider joining any smokers rights groups that’ve formed in your state, and/or groups that exist online. I definately imagine Texas would have at least a few by now.
And btw Jenn, good for you if you’ve been brainwashed by the lies of anti-smoking groups when you posted that. Just don’t go crying to us libertarians, such as myself, if your liberties you take for granted someday get eroded away.
This above is my photo site, btw(forgot to type out the full URL on that post).