Ballad of the Sad Cafes

JUST ANOTHER STUPID AMERICAN, WHO DOES NOT CARE TO LEARN MUCH, EVEN WHEN HE LIVES IN ANOTHER CITY/COUNTRY. AND YES, I'M AN AMERICAN ,TOO. ALL THE WRITER DOES IS REINFORCE THE IDEA THAT AMERICANS ARE LAZY, STUPID AND ARROGANT!

PARIS IS THE CITY OF LIGHT!! NOT LIGHTS!!!!!!!!

PLEASE, GET IT RIGHT. YOU MAKE THE REST OF US LOOK STUPID. TRY TO LEARN SOMETHING, AND PAY ATTENTION TOTHE LITTLE DETAILS. IN WRITING, IT ISMPORTANT TO GET THE DETAILS-------RIGHT!

Of the two political parties in america, neither really believes in freedom. One party would protect certain freedoms they agree with, and ban others. The other party would tell you they beilieve in freedom, while they trampled the constitution and made everything else illegal.

I don't know about all the "rights" issues, I just know it will smell better inside....

Can't post here I'll bet, but if I could it would be in total agreement that the morality poiice need to chopped off at the knees.

just another stupid american in paris. and this is from another american!!!

PARIS IS THE CITY OF LIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!! NOT " THE CITY OF LIGHTS" !!

IF YOU LIVE THERE, PLEASE!!!, GET IT RIGHT!

I

i am a former smoker who believes we should all have consideration for each,but smoking ban laws crack me up.it is ok to smoke in casinos,but no one can have one in a bar with a beer,which by the way,are both legal substances that are taxed. also,to those that are obese and say that does not affect anyone else,you are delusional. i have worked as an rn for 30 years. our patient population have grown by leaps and bounds, and and i mean that in the pounds sense. a patient over 300 pounds was a rarity,now a daily occurence. we are expected to lift,turn ,bathe and help move all of these obese people and do it without hurting ourselves. many health care workers are injured on the job(oh my,lost wages, increased health costs) by obese people. so please don't compare these issues.

Things like this are why our kids are going to grow up to be total pussies. Pretty soon we're all going to be wearing hazmat suits and everything will have rubber bumbers on it in case someone gets hurt. On the bright side, it will be a world without lawyers.

This article is a gratuitous glorification of smoking. Why promote a repulsive, sickening (literally), and expensive habit? Certainly, the cafes of Paris are a wonderful part of human social history, and their survival would continue to enhance the quality of life in Paris. But their demise is not likely related to a smoking ban. As in cities all over the world, the rent on downtown properties has escalated as high-profit businesses compete for space. Hopefully, alternative avenues for relaxing and socializing in public will somewhat compensate for the loss of sidewalk cafes in Paris. It is likely that there, as in many U.S. cities, the mall will take up some of the slack. One can sit in a mall food-court or faux cafe for hours without being disturbed. Of course the mall lacks the glamorous aura and intimacy of the French sidewalk cafe, but the people-watching may be even better.

i am a former smoker who believes we should all have consideration for each,but smoking ban laws crack me up.it is ok to smoke in casinos,but no one can have one in a bar with a beer,which by the way,are both legal substances that are taxed. also,to those that are obese and say that does not affect anyone else,you are delusional. i have worked as an rn for 30 years. our patient population have grown by leaps and bounds, and and i mean that in the pounds sense. a patient over 300 pounds was a rarity,now a daily occurence. we are expected to lift,turn ,bathe and help move all of these obese people and do it without hurting ourselves. many health care workers are injured on the job(oh my,lost wages, increased health costs) by obese people. so please don't compare these issues.

An entire generation of people raised to hate freedom. How sad.

Hey CRYSE you are getting more toxins from LAZER and DESKJET printers that is UN REVERSABLE where as second hand smoke when you remove yourself from it WILL go away THAT IS A FACT! A Major concern I have is when WE THE PEOPLE ARE LABLED with GOVERNMENT INFLUENCE... What is next? A SMALL YELLOW STAR THAT SAYS SMOKER? Are they going to put me on a train or putt me in a camp for smoking? Sure Smoking should be banned from INDOOR PUBLICK PLACES but, unfortunaely, IT IS NOT STOPPING THERE... What about my college banning smoking in my own car with the windows rolled up out doors? Or, the local police pulling me over because I have a van, they sawe me smoking, and wanted to make sure I did not have kids in the car... FINE, I AM WITH YOU WHEN IT IS ABOUT INDOOR PUBLIC PROPERTY, but it has not stopped there my friend, it is getting much deeper than that when you have opinionistic, racist [YES ANTI SMOKING I AM TALKING ABOUT IS LEGAL RACEISM!] people who go out of there way to enforce stupid laws that take place ON MY PROPERTY OR ON MY LAND just because they can, EVEN when my second hand smoke is miles away from anyone it would harm...

YES IT IS MY RIGHT TO CHOOSE TO SMOKE, AS MUCH AS IT IS YOUR RIGHT NOT TO SMOKE... IT WILL BE JUST AS RONG FOR YOU TO TELL ME I AM MESSED UP AS IT WOULD FOR ME TO DO THE SAME TO YOU... I BET WITHOUT THE INTERNET TO HIDE BEHIND YOU WOULD NOT BE SO COCKY...

I just don't understand why the health police wants to impose their will on everybody. Why don't they allow free will and the simple logic of supply and demand to just be. They could allow establishments the right to choose between being smoking or nonsmoking places. This way, people that want to smoke while they eat and drink will go to smoking places and people that don't want any smoking around them will go to the nonsmoking places. I'm sure that those that are so convinced about the hazards of second hand smoking will not sacrifice their health for a plate of food served at a restaurant that allows smoking when they have the choice to go to nonsmoking restaurants. This way, if there is a demand for non-smoking restaurants, there will be more and more. But maybe that is the problem. Maybe there aren't so many true second hand smoking paranoids around that would pick a restaurant for it's smoking policy rather than for its food quality and ambiance. This is why they take the choice away from people like they are children. Even those who don't smoke or those that hate people who smoke should see a problem with this assault on free will. Today you might not care because it is about something you abhor but, who knows, tomorrow it might be something you do care about. Each time you allow a freedom to be taken away, you set a precedent, and each one becomes more and more intrusive.

Things like this are why all of our kids are going to grow up to be pussies. Pretty soon we'll all be wearing hazmat suits and everthing will be covered with rubber bumpers in case someone gets hurt. On the bright side, it will be a world without lawyers.

Sigh....next we are going to hear from murderers that it was their choice to kill someone. And if people don't like it, don't go outside of a panic room for the rest of your life. There are more non-smokersa than smokers. majority rules, bye bye public smoking. Don't let the door hit your butt on the way out. Why not start public acid farms where we can all get some to take. Hey, its our choice. Let me spray mace in someones face if they look at me the wrong way. Don't like it, don't walk near me. I love listening to smokers whine that their "rights" were taken away. last time I checked, it was te 21st century and laws were passed. Who here speeds? What happens if a cop clocks you? Why should I go under the speed limit if I don't want to? My right togo fast and if I crash, its my fault....... I can come up with these all day, but reality is, no public smoking, so deal with it