Isn't it Ironic??????

[juddling]

Smoking bans, with a side of irony

A few minutes before dawn on Tuesday morning, I pulled myself out of bed, showered, put on my reporter hat (not really) and jumped in my car to head to a breakfast forum in north suburban Vernon Hills.

 

The event, set up in a hotel conference room, offered quite the impressive spread.

 

There were piles of bacon and ham. There was a tray filled with steaming scrambled eggs. And next to that, another one bursting with thick slices of French toast slathered in fried bananas and powdered sugar.

 

A Jenny Craig convention, this was not.

 

But considering that millions of Americans probably ordered the same meal at Denny's this morning, the breakfast event really wouldn't even be worth noting.

 

If it weren't for the parties hosting it.

 

Namely, the Lake County Health Department.

 

And the American Heart Association.

 

"I'm not just here this morning to eat bacon ..." a director for the heart association said with a laugh -- more at himself than the menu -- before he rolled into a discussion about the perils of puffing cigarettes.

 

The breakfast forum was held as part of Lake County's effort to encourage more towns to pass smoking ordinances as part of the Health Department's goal to make the entire county smoke-free by the end of 2007.

 

Eight municipalities have jumped on board so far.

 

Now, as a non-smoker, I can certainly see the benefits of protecting our lungs and other organs from second-hand smoke.

 

But, as a guy who also ran two miles before work this morning, I see the benefits of protecing our waistlines, too.

 

As a result, I skipped the French toast on Tuesday.

 

But the rest of the food tasted good.

 

And the irony?

 

It was delicious.

[Texsox]

It is ironic. The difference is most of the time someone 30 pounds over weight and having a grabber isn't as much of a nuisance as someone smoking

[DrunkBomber]

I dont even smoke or ever had but for people like that to tell privately owned establishments they cant allow smoking is rediculous. I wouldnt even care really because it doesnt effect me being a non smoker but someone brought a a good point to my attention, it may not effect me know, but when they do start passing laws and ordinances that are violating my civil rights Im gonna wonder how I didnt see it coming.