Dealings By the Dock On the Bay
In the gypsy years of my youth, I lived in the San Francisco Bay area–in Oakland, Walnut Creek, San Jose and Cupertino. The latter two towns are on the peninsula that runs south of San Francisco and when traveling to and from the city, I’d pass the town of Belmont.
There was nothing particularly remarkable about Belmont at that time beyond the fact that it’s located in one of the most dramatically beautiful parts of the U.S. Now, however, Belmont is big news because last week its city council voted unanimously to ban smoking anywhere in the city except a private, single-family home. If the ordinance is adopted, you could be issued a ticket for smoking in your car, in an apartment or condo, on the street or in the park.
Stay tuned: Belmont city staff have been asked to draft the ordinance banning smoking, with the goal of reviewing the draft ordinance in January 2007.
Your Thoughts?
I’ve addressed some of the risks associated with secondhand smoke in other entries, so you know I believe strongly that people should be protected from smoke created by others. But this ordinance is going way too far, isn’t it? Or is it just that we’re so accustomed to being able to smoke most places that this strikes many of us as being over-the-top? What are your thoughts?
Naive, 18 and Job Hunting In the Bay Area
I had just turned 18 when I moved from Southern California to the San Francisco Bay area. Instilled with a strong work ethic and encouraged to impart a can-do attitude, I went door-to-door at neighborhood businesses when I needed a part-time job. I dressed well, acted confident, and asked if they had any openings. At one shop–kind of an exercise studio–they were exceptionally friendly and offered me the position of receptionist. Hooray, a job! And such friendly people!
I was to go back the following week to seal the deal. A couple nights later, the sound of multiple sirens and lights flashing through my drawn curtains woke me from a sound sleep. Peeking out the window, I saw what had to be every police car on the peninsula, all parked in front of the exercise studio where I was to begin work.
The incident was in all the news outlets the next day. It seems the “exercise studio” that got busted was one of the Bay Area’s largest houses of ill repute.
Wow, could my career have taken a vastly different direction.
My kids absolutely hate to hear this story.
