What else would you call this "fine" effort?

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"We are not about driving people out of business," spokesman Charles Sturcken said. "We'll work with them so they can contain the fumes and not bother nearby residents."

Sturcken added that the city has issued hundreds of smell summonses to other establishments, including pizza parlors, Indian restaurants and a Krispy Kreme doughnut bakery.

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Oh, yeah, the horrid stench of fresh-hot bagels, spaghetti, all forms of ethnic cuisine, coffees, herbal teas...enough to wreck my day (and evening) in Manhattan.

One lousy complaint??? One person's fragrance is another's odor, I guess.

Was this little nest of bureaucrats having a slow day?

We do indeed live in ever-weirder times. I think sometimes that because we have it so good in this country, some very spoiled and neurotic people have a need to believe they are suffering in some way. Therefore, they inflate their petty little annoyances to major proportions because they really have nothing else to whine about.

As far as I've been able to determine about our Constitution and its Bill of Rights, nowhere does it say that anyone has a right not to be annoyed.

And what about those of us who love the smell of coffee, baking bread, perfume, flowers, garlic and herbs, and, yes, even tobacco? Will we be able to sue or fine those whose own little preferences deprive us of these smells which are "essential" to our well-being and happiness?

I think it's time to bitch-slap all the whiners, give 'em something to whine about, as generations of mothers have said.

How about a large group gets together about an hour before the next City Council meeting and has a delicious bean dinner. Then they all attend the meeting and sit in different parts of the council chambers and let nature take its course.

If they want to tax smells, give 'em some smells to tax.

Coffee? I've never heard of a person who doesn't like the smell of coffee. Of course, the taste for it needs to be acquired, but the smell? Then it dawned on me: caffeine is a drug, dammit. Just like nicotine. Dammit. And anybody that uses coffee is a drug addict, dammit. Next thing you know, the only bakery that'll be able to pollute the air with its smell will be one that doesn't use cracked or bleached wheat in its bread, only organically grown whole wheat. Dammit!

Wanda's right. It's about time to begin bitch slappin' some people. Dammit!

[This message has been edited by dennis quinn (edited 04-29-2003).]

Boy, Wanda you nailed it. We ARE living in ever-wierder times. Of course it will be interesting to see if they tax the diesel powered busses they pass off as public transportation for belching out all that nasty, smelly black smoke...My guess is they want to just get rid of the nice smells, though.

Who on earth elects these people?

Thommy, I think there are small but highly vocal groups of completely neurotic control freaks who have no purpose in life and who are very, very lonely. These losers find each other and band together behind some "cause" (which is really just an attempt to control everyone else) and dedicate themselves to it. Because they are so vocal and so dedicated (and ruthless), they scare the bejeezus out of our cowardly elected officials, who do their bidding.

In the case of the anti smokers, not all of them are zealots; many are simply professional cause flacks who make a good living from backing whatever issue is most lucrative at the time.

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Originally posted by Wanda Hamilton:
In the case of the anti smokers, not all of them are zealots; many are simply professional cause flacks who make a good living from backing whatever issue is most lucrative at the time.

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That seems to sum it up rather precisely.