#978 The Ten Regulations

I was thinking the other day about human nature. And how we really seem to respond to the simplest strategies. Take regulations. Do we need them? Judging by some things I’ve seen recently, apparently so.
Will people respect them if they’re not enforced? Apparently not.
Back when society was forming, and the need was determined for some way to keep people from messing with each other, they came up with the original regulations. You may recall a little policy manual called the Ten Commandments.
It appears they were too complicated, so people continued using the one anti-regulation—“It’s not a crime until you get caught.” Also stated as, “Do what you can get away with.”
There’s an establishment downtown that has been working hard to accommodate their smokers while sort of following the “no smoking indoors” rules.
They did it by redefining indoors. They built an outdoor covered patio. And they put up side walls to block the wind. The roof is retractable, although I’ve never seen it retracted. And, key point here, the walls have a foot and a half of open space up in the transom triangle created by the sloping roof and the horizontal wall. Inside, the place is heated by outdoor propane heaters. So smokers can drink beer and smoke and stay warm.
It’s sort of within the law. It’s an interesting legal point determining when a semi-enclosed outdoor space becomes the inside of a building. Is it still outdoors if there’s a three-foot square space left in the wall? If so, can I save all that trouble and make it “outdoors” by simply breaking out a window?
I would add another regulation to the entrepreneur who thinks he’s getting away with something. A natural regulation of chemistry.
Carbon monoxide kills.
If you enclose space too much, carbon monoxide from outdoor propane heaters lingers. Forget about secondhand smoke causing cancer 20 years from now. You’ll have patrons keeling over and litigation today.
So maybe there’s another rule you should consider.
Share air with others as you would have them share air with you.
It may not be a golden rule but it’s bound to save you some lawsuit money.
America, ya gotta love it.