By Molly Snyder Senior Writer Published Jul 24, 2005 at 5:32 AM

{image1}It's been decades since Henry Winkler introduced the world to Arthur Fonzerelli (aka "The Fonz"), and yet to this day the word "cool" is still associated with the character. Although Fonzie wore a leather jacket, zipped around on a motorcycle and sported a gaggle of poodle-skirted gals, was he truly cool? Was Henry Winkler cool enough for the part?

E-mail us at soundoff@staff.onmilwaukee.com and if picked, we'll post your response next Sunday. Only submissions that include your full name and where you live will be considered.

Last week's question: Should Milwaukeeans snuff out public smoking?

I feel any smoking ban is an infringement on my rights. I do not smoke nor do I wish to start again. I do not need any government agency regulating my life.
Russ Sobolik
Milwaukee

I think we should ban smoking. I was a smoker for about six years and a young adult.  However, I never tossed my "butts" out of my window; nor did I empty my car ashtray in front of anyone's home. 

The one thing I hate the most is when I go out for dinner and I ask for the "non-smoking" seat and they put next to a table that is a smoking table. If there were no smoking, I wouldn't have this issue.

California has the same law. It was hard at first but the people got used to it. I know Milwaukee can get used to this the someway as California did.
Mario Zamarripa
South Side

I was born and raised in the Milwaukee area and until last month, lived in Oak Creek. I just moved to Rhode Island and while I miss Milwaukee greatly, one the greatest things about Providence is the total and complete ban on smoking in public places. This is not just a Providence law, but actually a state of Rhode Island law.

Two points sum up why I am in favor of Milwaukee's proposed ban: 1. It's great to be able to go out to dinner with my family (in my case, my wife and one-year-old daughter) and be able to stop at a favorite bar or pub afterwards for a drink and not have to worry about my daughter breathing in all the second hand smoke (not to mention smelling like smoke). 2. Two large cities, Boston and New York City, have successfully implemented such a ban on smoking and have proven no ill financial affects from it. Most patrons have come to live with having to go outside to smoke, and if they truly enjoy the bars that they regularly go to, a ban on smoking won't stop them from patronizing that bar.
Greg Ragsdale
(formerly of Oak Creek, now in Rhode island but hoping to be back in Milwaukee next year)

If this law gets passed, it will definitely be a protection of our rights. Cigarettes cause cancer, including second-hand smoke. They contain toxic chemicals that travel anywhere the smoke can go. Saying that a person has the right to expose the rest of the world to their bad smoking habit in a public place is like saying a person with HIV can still sleep with whoever they want just because they have needs. 
Ruth Henry
Milwaukee

I work just west of downtown at major corporation that allows smoking in the workplace. The particular building I work in is old and the ventilation is sub-par.  Well, long story short: after three years of working there, three email complaints to the managementr, I still get to breathe second-hand smoke daily because of weak management mentality. Time and time I am told that "it's not that bad" or "it's a tough balancing act to honor the rights of the smokers as well as the non-smokers." How insulting! It's really unbelievable to think that this is the year 2005 in America!

For all the smokers out there: You have the right to smoke in your house, that's your space, not mine. But when we share space at a bar or where I work, I ask, I request, I beg, I plead - don't smoke in my space.
David Sprink
Brown Deer

Banning smoking from public places is an injustice. I have the right to spark one anywhere, anytime.
Mike Hobbs
South Milwaukee


Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.

Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.