Smokin' Stork
 

OK, well then there's a third person (if I understand you correctly) and it wasn't just MM/GWNC. Maybe it is my misperception, because I'm in the MM/GWNC/BRC (fka DS) camp, but didn't post anything, not wanting to hear a bunch of ignorant claptrap about how a glass of wine induces instant fetal alcohol syndrome.

If I am misremembering, perhaps it's because I was IM'ing with several people about the subject, all of whom thought the scorn-heaped-upon-pregnant-woman-in-bar attitude was absurd.

And you thought there was racism on AI
 

Yeah. It was. I just thought it was unfair to look at it in a vacuum. But you knew that already, didn't you?

TM

People with Horrid Demon Children
 

Actually, I purposely did not invite them. However, they somehow assumed that anyone would be welcome at the ceremony. The kids did not come to the reception.

As long as we're ranting
 

I second the motion.

I also add the clipping of nails on the train to the list. I've seen numerous people do this, dead nail clippings (and all the underlying germs and dirt) flying who knows where. Thankfully I haven't seen anyone clip their toe nails. Yet.

Smokin' Stork
 

Just as "oops, it caved in - sorry" is no longer accepted as an "incidence of the job" for miners, (well, in theory), nor are lead fumes accepted for battery makers, neither is cig smoke for waitstaff (this last is my prediction, not a statement of current law.) Our system has pretty much discarded the idea that any hazard (that is reasonably addressable) can remain in a workplace. (No, I don't do WC.) So, I can't see smoking bars lasting much longer anywhere.

Here in MN, in a nearby suburb, they just went through this fight. Main issue (explicit issue, that is) from proponents was health of employees.

As long as we're ranting
 

You are my SP. I once gave a tourist on the metro the dirtiest glare I have ever seen in response to her clipping her nails in the seat behind me.

It was the most effective glaring at a stranger that I have ever performed, because she stopped, and actually looked rather cowed.

I'm sure she turned to her hubby and said "Can you believe that bitch?" after I got off the train, but who cares?

And you thought there was racism on AI
 

Agreed. That's why I said, "One of the main reasons why the trial was so huge was because a black man killed an attractive white woman."

TM

Kids
 

Well, there is always the Vegas exception.

Smokin' Stork
 

It was a workplace safety issue, I guess just like in MN.

Physician, heal thy_____
 

This is mostly just false. I'm hoping it's sarcasm.

I have two cousins who are siblings. One was a monster at birth and has continued to be, the other was an angel at birth and hasn't changed. Exact same parenting. Different people. She is the most selfish person I've ever met and always has been, he was born with a concern for how everyone around him felt. No one who's ever spent time around children has any illusions that they are not born with their own distinct personalities (which includes generous qualities and a concern for others or the lack thereof).

You can mold a child's personality and affect how s/he interacts with others, but every kid is different.

TM

And you thought there was racism on AI
 

That can be argued, but I don't think it would be as huge.

It was a defining moment in our history. A snapshot of race relations in this (or that) era. It split the country down the middle, mostly on color lines. Montana would be huge, but all of the extra, hot-button, race stuff made the OJ trial tremendous.

TM

Kids
 

Some of us keep toys in our offices, generally for our own amusement but they also come in handy when brats belonging to partners come in.

One of the partners at my former firm had a three year old. She'd come in maybe three or four times a month, and she'd have a run of the place. She'd open office doors, barge in on telephone calls, and otherwise cause disruptions. I think that her presence in the office was some sort of passive agressive "see what I have to go through" from his wife, since the wife and the kid would usually show up together towards the end of the day and the wife would go off to do something other than manage her kid. The partner's secretary became an ad hoc baby sitter whenever the daughter would come into the office. No work could get done until the whole family was out of there. The kid knew that I keep toys in my office, so she'd make a beeline for my slinky or koosh balls or nerf footballs.

And you thought there was racism on AI
 

I don't want to get into a big OJ thing, so I'll just say I pretty much agree with what you said, which is true.

TM

Kids
 

A coworker used to make fun of me for carrying several little action figures in my briefcase at all times.

Then, one day, we both got stuck on the runway at Detroit in the snow for four hours, with several kids sitting very close by.

He never made fun again.

Smokin' Stork
 

Around here, that was the main "reason" given, as well. I note that it was not given by the employees, however. Of the barstaff I or the Mr. talked to, many liked the idea of a smoke-free workplace, but many felt that it was outweighed by some combination of (i) having to "leave the building for smoke breaks on the street like some pathetic white-collar cubicle drone" (ii) likelihood of lower tips (apparently non-smokers are widely considered crappy tippers in bars, though if based on what I don't know) and (iii) likelihood of losing job if receipts decreased because non-smokers don't replace lost smoker volume, non-smokers having lots of other places to go and smokers having only really had bars.

(i) is certainly a reality, and (iii) is looking like a real concern here. (iii) is the reason a similar ban was rescinded in Toronto.