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                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, April 8, 1993                   TAG: 9304080631
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A16   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

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THE ODOR WASN'T PEPPERONI

RECENTLY I was having lunch with three children at a local pizza establishment. After placing our order, two women in the booth next to our table started to smoke. All three children were coughing and complaining, so when the women continued to smoke, I requested a new table on the other side of the room. We were moved, and our waiter was very kind about the inconvenience.

There were three nonsmoking booths in the entire restaurant. Within minutes, a man in one of the nonsmoking booths began to smoke. We were two booths away, but could still smell the noxious odor. The young woman in a nonsmoking booth next to the smoker is a severe asthmatic and becomes ill when exposed to smoke. As we were finishing up, six teen-agers sat down next to us and most of them started to smoke. At that point, the poor young woman with asthma had to leave abruptly, before she became ill.

This restaurant is always filled with children, for whom smoke exposure is so detrimental. It is a small restaurant, so if one person smokes, everyone can smell it. I suggested to the manager on duty that they need to make it a nonsmoking establishment. He did not reply because he is a smoker and not very sympathetic.

Restaurants need to restrict smoking for the benefit of all.

BONNIE HARBOURT\ ROANOKE

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