Studies show that smoking bans have cut down heart attack rates by 17%.
YUNKUN BUYUN, AGE UNKNOWN, KOREA
Hey there. Today I’m speaking with people about the ill effects of smoking and—
[long vowels and indiscernible consonants]
Whoa. I don’t speak Korean.
Waa-kwoo-fongtang-shaw.
I’m sorry. There’s really no point in–
You don’t want to talk to me. I’m just an old man.
MIGUEL HERNANDEZ, 50, HUNTS POINT, BRONX
Studies show that smoking bans have cut down the rates of heart attacks by 17%. Hola?
No English. Español. No photo of me smoking.
Figures. Why can’t I photograph you smoking? Does your wife think you left the habit years ago?
No. I’ve been smoking since I was 14. I smoke a pack a day. I bought this pack today and I only have four that stay with me.
Fuck. Do you think cities have the right to enforce smoking restrictions in restaurants and bars, even if some say it’s better for public health?
Yes, yes. In the restaurants, yes, but in the bars, no. Then the law is OK. In parks, yes, we should smoke. We shouldn’t smoke in restaurants because there is food there—you end up eating the smoke through the food.
So it’s more a question of what’s appetizing.
At a bar, the majority of people drinking also smoke. At a restaurant, most people who eat do not smoke. Eating is nutritious, clearly. Smoking only causes bad health.
Following that point, do you think secondary smoke is going to do harm to employees of the bar?
If you smoke inside, yes. That will do harm to them.
But you said before we should smoke in bars. May these people fuck themselves with their health?
Well, it depends. If the employees feel ill for the smoke, they should look for another vocation. Ultimately I think it should be up to the owner of the establishment to decide the smoking rule.
Do you think one can compare secondary smoke to a beer burp? Do you think a room full of burping people can create intoxicating air? Does it work like that?
Burps cause cancer? Don’t be an idiot.
SAM JACKSON (yup), 37, “I CLAIM NOWHERE I’M HOMELESS!”
Does you think cities should enforce smoking bans in bars and restaurants?
Cities will never have that much power.
Uuh… how many years has it been since you’ve been in a bar or restaurant?
This interview is over.
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Hey, everyone, did you know Madsen once lived in Spain? He can speak Spanish and everything.
09.22.09 at 3:41 pm
How else are you going to talk to Miguel?
09.22.09 at 3:46 pm
Enhance that notebook.
09.22.09 at 4:23 pm
Would love to. That photo showed the most colorful pages.
09.22.09 at 4:27 pm
Who doesn’t ’speak’ spanish? That’s like not being ‘into’ breathing.
09.22.09 at 4:52 pm
It should be up to the bar if they want to have smoking or not. smoking people can go to smoking bars, other people can go to other bars. who the fuck has a problem with that?
09.22.09 at 5:03 pm
As much fun as it must be to smoke at a show and not miss a song, it’s kind of nice going home and only smelling of b.o. without the added stink of stale smoke.
09.22.09 at 5:22 pm
In smaller, smoker-friendly markets, bars that go smoke-free usually go customer-free within the year. Shitty reality.
09.22.09 at 7:11 pm
There are smoking bars & nonsmoking bars here. I don’t smoke, but I go to the smoking bars because I like to be around people.
09.22.09 at 10:05 pm
This is so 2003. Trying to imagine an ordinary bar filled with smoke is nearly impossible, but imagining a ritzy lounge – possible, it happens all the time.
09.22.09 at 10:28 pm
In 2003 you were 15. Come again?
09.22.09 at 10:37 pm
Someone please help me. I’m going blind. I was making beef jerky with cummin, soy and worchestire sauce, and habanero peppers and I rubbed my eye after handling the peppers. It burns!
09.22.09 at 11:44 pm
This site used to have the funniest, weirdest comments on the internet. Now, they’re dull and completely unfunny…to say the least.
09.23.09 at 6:47 am
@ Peter
Umm… Yeah… No. Other than the math being wrong – age ain’t nothing but a number. In 2003 nearly every bodega would sell loosies and full packs to everyone under 18 and nearly all bars/restaurants could care less about carding the youth. Even if they did, fakes were prominent.
09.23.09 at 9:40 am
I take for granted what a hard-living eighth-grader you were Aileen.
09.23.09 at 9:46 am
I take your math skills for granted Peter. However I do enjoy getting younger with every comment you make.
09.23.09 at 11:15 am
I can’t wait till they come for your quarter pounders and coke next, you’ll wish you’d stuck up for the smokers. Fast food and Soda beverage industries have stepped right into the void left by the contained tobacco industry, in terms of harmful product placement and predatory targeting of children, in advertising of a just as addictive product.
09.24.09 at 3:32 am