Karaoke Forums

You know the funny thing about the smoking ban is it has created a sort of social club outside the bar on the porch. Non-smokers will come outside to visit because a lot o the time the partys on the porch with the smokers.

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How do smokers have the right to drive up health care costs for everyone?   How do smokers think they should just pollute the air everyone breaths?  How do smokers think they have the right to inconvenience everyone around them?

My dad smoked when we were growing up.  I got sick everytime i looked out the window.  On the day i moved out when i was 19 my illness rate dropped in half.   I blame his habit.

Smokers should pay double or triple for health care to keep non smokers rates down where ours deserve to be.

No smoking in public places is coming soon to all 50 states.  :hi5:

Smoke free karaoke...yeah baby..

We are discussing how the smoking law effects our karaoke business, not personal opinions on how we feel about smokers. Can we stay on subject please.

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The subject is smokers and they think they have the right to smoke in bars.   That affects karaoke.     Or any other public place.   It's just a matter of time before the entire counrty goes smoke free in public places including all karaoke bars.

FYI.... bar workers health is the reason for the ban.     Second hand smoke is on a list of carcinogens that is equal to asbestos and benzene.   That means it causes CANCER.  Not maybe....

yep even though I havent smoked since october last year I still go outside with them...1. I like the smell of cigarette smoke
2. I hate the freakin holier than thou b@stards who get on their soapbox
3. you are correct the party is generally where the smokers are

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I've never been a smoker, and I don't feel great around people smoking, but as I've stated many times, it should be left up to the business. I've seen it stated many times that almost 4/5 adults in the U.S. do not smoke, but in the past when a place would try to be a non-smoking venue, these non-smokers would not come, and the place would end up going out of business. This is a prime example of too much government, and shame on us non-smokers. People make choices, where to go, and where to work. People choose to work in a steel mill, where they are exposed to pollutions, and carcinogens, that you don't find in cigarette smoke. If you forced an animal to endure mill pollutions, you'd end up in jail, but as humans, we make a choice between our health and the almighty dollar, and it's ok. By applying laws parallel to the no-smoking laws, we would have to shut down just about every factory in the country....ps......I look at the title of this post, and I see no deviation of the subject matter in my post.....

In the steel mill there are rules imposed by OSHA that proect you from many different threats to your health and life.  

Bar workers which we are a part of, should expect the same safety levels for our health.     From CANCER causing agents.  Second hand smoke falls into that catagory.

If you would happen to be killed at work your wife will sue the company for some reason or another, and she will probably win because more than likely the company would have been at fault.  

It's not about the poor smokers being tramped on.   It's about the poor non smoking workers being forced to breathe harmful bad habits.

OSHA is your best friend at work.   Or at least it should be.

Well I know and you know BD, we both worked in a steel mill, and we both know OSHA is a joke. Furthermore, because of workmen's comp, we both know it's virtually impossible to sue a steel mill. It wasn't that long ago in Indiana here, that if you got killed in the mill, you got 20 grand from comp, plus whatever insurance you had, and that was that. The mill is full of dangers, especially of the long term exposure kind. You know that, and you are just playing The Devil's Advocate here. No one makes you work in a steel mill, and going into a bar is not one of the necessities of life. You go there of your own free will, knowing you will be exposed to second hand smoke, and you choose to work there, just like you choose to work anywhere there is danger. With 4/5 adults not smoking, you'd think 4/5 bars would be smokeless, but no, people like you have to go where there is smoking, and make them stop, so they can listen to your BS, like we have to listen to it on here... ......by the way, I see you speak of your wife, and I remember you used to speak of your girlfriend before, so if you got married in the past year or so....congratulations.....I guess you could have been married all along, and had a girlfriend too, though......congrats on that tricky maneuver too...

Thank you Johnny - Your post was very intelligent. I just didn't want this thread to turn into a bashing mob for smokers.

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de nada!

I just returned from Minnesota (used to live there) and went to the regular Karaoke places. Minnesota just this year passed the no smoking law in public places. I thought..great! I won't smell like smoke when I get home..and that worked OK..but, there were WAY fewer patrons. Even in places with a decent rotation..you r singing to an empty room..everyone is outside smoking...so..I figure..what's the point in coming here?....I can just sing at home or in the car!
I prefer karaoke here in Reno in Casinos...they allow smoking, but, the ventilation system works really well..so..we have the patrons...they can smoke and stay in the room and make it feel more like a party.

I asked the owner this weekend if his revenue is down because of the no-smoking law. He said "No." One of the biggest reasons is we are as smoker friendly as it gets. People from other bars are coming to ours because of the porch and smoking room on it. Our smoking room is not probably legit, but as long as the town village isn't closing it, he's keeping it open.

I still don't understand why owners can't build a structure that is heated for smokers.
As long as no food or drink is in there and nothing is being sold, what's the harm?

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I agree with you on having a decent smoking area....but..funny the bar guy said business is OK...we switched here in Nevada to non-smoking in places that serve food last fall....bar business is WAY off...but..perhaps it will rebound after a while..but still having the smokers congregate outside while nobody is inside listening to the "show" seems bad to me.

I understand what you are saying. I notice when there is a singer who sings a song people don't want to hear the crowd heads outside. We usually have a big enough crowd that there is always people inside though. The porch can't hold the whole bar.

I can see how it would be very embarrassing for a singer to have the bar clear out when they sang.  :O

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It's been a year this May the smoking ban went into effect here in OHIO.  At first I noticed  some bars dropped karaoke, but then  later noticed new places opened.  Yes, there are less patrions in a karaoke  bar, but the good thing is shorter rotations.  Instead of singing only two songs in four hours, I can sometimes get five in.

My husband and I have been eating out weekly at bars that have good food and enjoying the smoke free environment. These places do not have karaoke, but we still enjoy going to try out new places to eat in our neighborhood  The last time we went out was a Thursday night and this place had lots of customers.  No one was outside smoking but lots were inside eating and drinking.  Before the ban, we never would have been able to tolerate eating in a smoke filled room.  I'm sure there are others like us.

I've recently noticed that playing music videos on large screens, and games like Guitar Hero has taken over karaoke in the past year.  I wonder if that's just in this area.

You must be up north somewhere. Down here in Cincinnati area, it is practically like the law has been repealed. Tons of bars are flouting the law. I have seen places pass out sauce cups with water in them, Sucrets boxes, and rolls of foil to make creative foil ashtrays. Some bars switched to selling Bud in cans so people could use them for ashtrays. Spit-takes are common as people mistake an ashtray for a beer bottle.


I don't go out to bars unless they have karaoke, so I must miss all that. Certainly we don't have any of it in our rural area...

Hi Micky,

We  recently went into a bar that was supposed to have karaoke and they switched to the video thing.  We never went to bars  for other than Karaoke until the smoking ban went into effect.  Now, we've been trying all these bars just for the food, cause they sometimes have good food and drink specials. If they have karaoke, too, that's even better.  

Back in December 06, when the law was supposed to take effect, but wasn't enforced, many where still smoking the bars here, too.  I also saw people getting arrested for taking drinks out of the bar and and smoking in their cars.  They would come back in when it was their turn to sing. Now the law is strictly enforced here.  I didn't know the smoking was still going on down by Cincinati.  That's too bad.

Wow that's odd. I actually seem to have more people for karaoke because people are utilizing the outside porch more. We can fit so many more people in the bar that way. People used to  leave because it would get to crowded in the bar. Now a good percentage of people are always outside which makes more room inside.

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[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

The answer is simple Babs, the non-smoking people (being nice I won't use the proper word), will never be happy until there is a complete, and I mean complete ban on smoking.  Here they've banned smoking in your vehicle if a child is present.  Next it will be iinvading your home.  Only one charge laid since 1 April and the non-smokers are applauding the compliance.  It's more the police won't enforce such stupid laws.  Let's see, smoking in a car with the windows open or smoking in your own home.  Yep smoke next to one of these people they'll act as they are dying, yet sit at a sidewalk cafe and happily inhale vehicle fumes.

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couldnt agree more timberlea...I have recently given up smoking but faced with the zealots that seem to wage war on smokers I will go stand with them any day.

Realistically we all smoke or not these days as an informed decision...fek the zealots that want to ban it...and if anyone tells me what I can and cant do in my car then they might find a red headed terror so far down their throat they might wish they were never born

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"Be who you are and say what you feel... Because those that matter... Don't mind...And those that mind... Don't matter."