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Prejudice at IHOP


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my friend and i, whom were feeling rebellious and inviting towards conflict, went to IHOP with his hookah. we sat in the smoking section, lit the hookah up, and ordered food. the waitress (a very cute waitress, by the way) was coolw ith it, she even said she liked how it smelled.

But about thirty minutes later, another waitress came up and said "this isnt going to work guys. this is a family restaraunt. we cant have you smoking out of some peace pipe thing"

i said "i dont understand. were not doing anything wrong"

"well, ill just go ask the manager."

time went by. we smoked, and ate. then a pink shirted manager came by and said "im sorry guys. your going to have to take it down. "

again, i stated "were not doing anything wrong."

"well, we dont allow pipe tobacco or cigars. cigarettes only. restaraunt policy"

rrrrrrt (supposed to be a car screeching to a halt). no cigars or pipe tobacco? i was expecting them to say no hookah, but i, and several other people i know, have all smoked cigars without any complaints. youd think they would post such an absurd law at the front. funny side note- while he was talking, i was taking a big hit, and, with the hose still in my mouth, said "wait till i finish this hit" all muffled and shit.

story is not completely done. we stopped smoking it, put the coals out, and continued witht he dinner. a few minutes later, another waitress came up and very rudely said "listen, im not going to tell you again. take it down."

"that thing is hot. i dont wanna touch it yet."

she got visibly angry. "well, thats not my problem". and stormed off. that was the last we heard of it, but we were pretty pissed. they handled that all wrong. we even asked our (cute) waitress if it was ok, and she gave the thumbs up. im thinking of complaining, but IHOP sucks anyway.

anyone else have stories of ignorance?
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Most people still don't know what a hookah is. Many young people have heard of it and have disdain for those who don't. The hookah is not fully mainstream yet with everyone, but it is getting there. I can see a business being picky about it for many reasons. The hookah coals can cause nasty burns to the establishment causing $$$ repairs and can be knocked over. If the establishment does not allow pipes or cigars, then common sense is other forms of smoking would be out. Because of the hot coals I can never see the hookah being mainstream with places that have formica tables and carpet. Most states are banning smoking in public places anyway.
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Hell, in Florida smoking isn't allowed in restaurants. PERIOD There is no smoking section.

One of these days (far in the future), Dateline is going to be airing nightly new broadcasts about hookahs. I can see it now..."Hookahs and Your Child; Should you worry?" The cryogenically frozen Tom Brokaw is going to be anchoring it.
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I can see Minnesota going the route of banning smoking in the whole state, it's limited right now to the biggest counties, which include the cities of Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Duluth.... And we had an article run in our main paper in MN about the dangers of hookah smoking and the growing popularity, and was written by a MD I used to work with, so I can see it being a larger national story soon also.
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I should have quoted you above... you made reference to the "sting" operation with Nightline and the police tempting smokers in public.

I then referenced (poorly, I guess) the on-going Conan O`Brien skit where they make predictions and sing "In The Year 2000" before and after the prediction, even though we are far beyond the year 2000.

So, did you miss something? Not really. Are you coming to the CincyFest Smoke Out 2006 or WHAT?
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Well unlike a cigarette or cigar a hookah is associated with a large chunk of burning charcoal that is not a 100% secure to the hookah. In a busy establishment anyone can easily walk into the thing and fling the charcoal on to property, so it is understandable why they wouldn't want it. However it seems that the main reason they didn't want it is the taboo factor.
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Eh... i've seen the no cigar or pipe smoking thing before... oh well, some people are ignorant! I"m totally gonna bring my hookah to a restaurant some day... actually I want to get a QT or something small and portable before I do that...
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[quote name='DarthHookah'][quote name='ghostofdavid']In the year 2000![/quote]

im sorry, did i miss something?[/quote]

Conan Reference.

As much as I'd love to bring my Hookah into the IHOP, (strawberry waffles and strawberry shisha :o ) I understand where they're coming from.

New Jersey sucks, the wholesale smoking ban is really obnoxious. When I can't smoke my cigar in a strip club, that's just fascism. :x
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Having read some of the replies I'm going offer my 2c.

Loose coals is surly an issue. I know many a greasy spoon (Cafe) that allow cigarettes but ask no one smoke cigars.
However I suspect the restraunts reaction is more down to pure ignorance. (They probably thought it was a 'bong')
Plain & Simple.

Ignorance FTW. :roll:

JD
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I can see it not being allowed for the coals and property damage (not that cigarette ashes are all that safe). It would be cool to try in a restaurant with outdoor seating. I can't picture them giving a good reason not to allow that.
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[quote name='DarthHookah']i am confident their decision was ignorance based. they kept saying "this is a family restaraunt." and not "those coals are unsafe."[/quote]

Anyone would think you was in the middle of felatchio (SP?) rather than smoking some Fruity Tobacco...

Ahh the favourite song of the ignorant "This is a family establishment"

Sorry to hear it man.

JD
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[quote name='DarthHookah']i am confident their decision was ignorance based. they kept saying "this is a family restaraunt." and not "those coals are unsafe."[/quote]

Mind you that said you really can't do what you did anywhere in the world. Even in the middle-east walking into a restaurant with your own hookah would be considered weird and no one does it. Don't ask me why but it just doesn't happen and is not considered just another smoking apparatus.
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A few years back I was looking for a roommate in Virginia. This kid smoked hookah, (introduced me to hookah, which is the only positive thing thing I can say about him...) and was rather eccentric, to say the least. One might he and a friend took their hookah into IHOP with no problems.

It sounds like you you tried this on a night when a "family values" manager was on duty. Petty, self-contradicting, narrow-minded...

Cheers,Paulson
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Well two waitresses dealt with it in two different ways. I could easily say one of them is having a bad day and her "bitchy-ness" just came out, and the other one is just cool and a happy person.
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[quote name='ghostofdavid'][quote name='EvansLight']lol ive smoked mine at chilis and they didnt care. Got a few weird looks but no one said anything XD[/quote]

I'm taking mine to Shenaniganz!!!![/quote]

SHENANIGANZ!! FTW! i bet theyll let us smoke there!! :D
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