Well, it seems both my cohortsâ€"Sandy over there to my left and Scott a couple of pages overâ€"are giving a slap this week to those who oppose the local antiâ€"smoking bylaw in restaurants, bars, bingo halls and bowling alleys. No one has the right to smoke, they both say. It‘s a filthy, disgusting habit, and those who indulge are ignorant and have no consideration Deborah Crandall For example, 1 wholeâ€"heartedly agree that no smoking whatsoever should be allowed in restaurants. I‘m a puffer, and even I don‘t like it when someâ€" one near me smokes while I‘m eating As far as bowling alieys go, I‘m in agreement with the total banâ€" mostly because bowling is a family activity and 1 believe the less chilâ€" dren are exposed to cigarette smoking the less likely they are to pick up the filthy habit. But when we get to bingo halls and bars, that‘s where 1 have some problems with the ban. Unlike restaurants and bowling alleys, the majority of patrons in bingo halls and bars smokes. 1 know I‘m stereoâ€" typing here, and I‘m going to get blasted soundly for that, but that‘s the way 1 see it. I‘ve only been to a bingo hall once in my life. And as Canadian comâ€" edy Ron James would say, they smoked in there like is was a cure for cancer. When I head down to my local for a cold one, I find that a good 90 per cent of my fellow regulars are smoking. (Last Saturday was no exception.) The rest don‘t seem to mind. 1 suspect if they did, they wouldn‘t go there. Now I know proponents of the smoking ban are now screaming they have the right to go to such a bar and not have to endure cigarette smoke. And I agree. Believe me, I do. I was in Toronto a couple of weeks back, and a friend and I were looking for a place to have a bite and a drink before we hit a show at Massey Hall. In the window of one Yonge Street establishment was a sign that informed potential patrons that this was, in fact, an establishâ€" ment that allowed smoking. In we went. Others who don‘t smoke continued up Yonge Street to find one of the dozens of restaurants/bars within a twoâ€"block radius that don‘ allow smoking. It seems like a simple, logical solution. But 1 know it‘s not, and here‘s why: If there was really a healthy (no pun intended) market for nonâ€" smoking bars and bingo halls. we wouldn‘t need bylaws to bring them about. Bar and bingo hall owners being business people, they‘d be tapâ€" ping that market readily. Given that they know theit market, undoubiâ€" edly few would volunteer to ban smoking in their establishments Anyway, for now the ban will be enforced. And only time will tell if smokers will quit whining (or smoking) and bar and bingo hall ownâ€" ers will be able to stay afloat. But to help out in the meantime, maybe nonâ€"smokers could start playing bingo and dninking motre 75 King St. South, Suite 201 Waterloo, Ontario, N2J 1P2 Phone: 886â€"2830 Fax; 886â€"9383 Eâ€"mail: wchronicle@sentex.net But why can‘ there be both? Why can‘t there be bars that allow smoki#ag and bars that don‘t? 1 could go to mine, you could go to yoursâ€"everybody‘s happy. m mz Co / PC Ccb AND ANOTHER Chronicle International Standard Serial Number ISSN 0#32 3410 I may be blowing smoke, but... THDG... But let me play devils advocate for a moment 1 smoke. There, I‘ve said it. I‘m out of the closet. 1 know some of you are now turning the page in disgust. But, yup, 1 smoke. So take everything I‘m about to say with a grain of cigarette ash. for thase around them And they‘re both right (though you won‘t hear me say that too often). While 1 agree with many aspects of the antiâ€"smoking bylaw, I‘m not in agreement with the total ban (big shock). Cal Bowveld Group Publisher Gerry Mattice Norma Cyca rah Crandali Bob Vrhanac Andren Bailey Carolyn Amstey Cheryt MeGill T Edinor Sports Editor Reporter Circuintion Manager Oircuintion 4 H R ‘! C _ lige * ;g CÂ¥ 4 g. what Y2K crisis was an expensive giggle We‘re well into the new year, and, of course, I‘m leaving behind a trail of busted resolutions. I‘m also shunning the shopping malls because the prices we‘d now pay for the selfâ€" same gifts would make a billionaire weep. But, hey, that‘s hardly the Christmas spirit. And, incidenâ€" tally, there were some unusual gifts. For example, Adidas mouthwashâ€"for regional councillors who are always putting their foot in their mouth. Magic Midnight: The Y2K crisis? On sober reflection, it was a giggle. But a very expensive one. The cost globally was in the hundreds of billions, and in the Excited States amounted to about $350 a person. Not to put too fine a point on it, the Y2K panic comprised the biggest scam ever. Granted, there‘d have‘ been more of a mess if there hadn‘t been adjustâ€" ments and computer replacements, but the 0NCI huge spending and all the sputtering were unnecessary. l ": It amounted to a big aid program to comâ€" puter companies and consultants. It is to be noted that countries which hardly did a dam thing weren‘t badly affected at all. Agreed, their systems have all the sophistication of a twoâ€" battery fashlight. But I‘ll take the chap who never worries . @@nnnt®t about tormorrow. He knows that everything is going to tun out wrong Anyhow, the survivalists and lesser handâ€" wringers were foiled again. The world didn‘ come to an end or even wander out of orbit But, come to think of it, they only have to be right once By the Rights: Waterloo Region‘s antiâ€"smoking bylaw is coming in for determined resistance on a couple of fronts One, predictably the popâ€"offs among the puffers are screaming without any recourse to law or logic. Second, the bar owners are planmng a courtroom challenge to the ban. It‘s important that the region win the battle. Its authority won‘t count for much if it loses the fight to maintain the ban Mark you, the fact that the bar owners have engaged lawyers doesn‘t count for much Heaven knows, you could hire lawyers to argue the world is square, provided you have the bankroll to finance the batâ€" the. Heaven knows, we aren‘t the only area with such a bylaw British Columbia and Guelph have enacted similar bans "<h ( P\ G n- Advertising Sales CInssiGied Sales Reg, Clans. Mage Lynn Mitchell ONCE oveR LIGHTIY As a matter of fact, most Canadians would do well to read the charter. It isn‘t compelling literature, but a reading will make clear that there is no right to befoul the air for everyone and are subject to similar challenges. Take heart: Regional bar owners will lose the battle. Trust me. But ugh. The calibre of the debate so far has been mighty dumb. When you hear portly men and women het up and hollering at TV viewers, "What‘s happened to the Charter of Rights? My rights to smoke are supposed to be protected." Oh? Are they? The Charter of Rights alludes to a lot of weighty matters, but the right to commit tobacco suicide isnt included. As a matter of fact, the puffers should quit citing their right to smoke. It doesn‘t exist. In any case, throughout this whole fingernailâ€"gnawing drama, there‘s one thing you have to consider: where the comments come from. The impact should depend on whether it‘s from a dispassionate point of view or whether it represents. a job which may be lost or changed in the process of reform. ' In addition, Gazzola said he opposes singleâ€" r city government, and it could be that Seiling found that comment particularly annoying I suppose on balance that Seiling should accept any contrâ€" butions to the discussions. Besides, he can‘t halt the city staffers from saying what they think 1 suppose that things would be more tranquil if they conâ€" fined their comments to the councils that employ them, but that is not to be. So it all depends on where they sit. And, oh well, the city bureaucrats are no different from the rest of us Life for all of us is like a shower. One wrong turn and you‘re in hot water else It‘s sad to say, but with many Canadians, ignorance seems almost a religion. The maxim says that ignorance is no excuse. In the case of popâ€"ofl puffers, it must be. Nothing else can explain them. Anvil Chorus: Regional chairmian Ken Seilâ€" ing has castigated a couple of senior municipal staffers for playing politics with government teform. John Gazzola and Don Smith, chief adminisâ€" trators of Kitchener and Cambridge respecâ€" tively, had said that local government can‘t be reformed in time for elections next fall The views of our columnists are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of the newspaper Mailed subscription rates $63 vearly in C anada $90 yearly outside Canada +GS T Waterloo Chronicle is published every Wednesday by The Fairway Group = A division of Southam Inc,