Thread: CO Greenly Barber Shop Refuses Customers Who Smell Like Pot

I appreciate the owner taking a stand... preserving his business in order to keep his clientele. Lord, help him.

I'll post the link:

Greeley Barber Shop Refuses Customers Who Smell Like Pot « CBS Denver

I dunno... I see this potentially going in the same direction as the law recently vetoed by Jan Brewer in AZ concerning businesses being able to refuse service on religious grounds to those in the LGBT crowd. As the article pointed out, there have been several lawsuits threatened already.

I'm all for legalization, just as I'm all for LGBT people (or anyone, really) living their life how they see fit, but I personally think what this guy is doing takes the cake. Any business owner should be able to refuse to do business with whomever they choose for whatever reason they choose. Just because the doors are unlocked and anyone can walk in doesn't mean that the business is a public place and therefore should be accessible to anyone and everyone.

Saying that it should be also becomes a double edged sword. The U.S. is a nation of laws and our Constitution requires that the law be applied equally to all people. In other words, what's good for the goose has to be equally good for the gander. If I were a member of the Ku Klux Klan and decided to go eat at a diner owned by a black owner, if you apply the law equally, they would be forced to serve me. I personally don't agree with hate, but I bring this up to show that one person's Constitutionally protected rights cannot be placed above another's just because they believe something differently. That's not true equality.

Also, it creates a business opportunity for others, and could therefore promote job growth.

"So the guy down the street doesn't want potheads in his shop? Well, I'll take yer monies... come on down here! Oh, just because you're a lesbian they don't want to serve you at that diner? I'll make you a sammich!"

See where I'm going with this? A good example of this happening is states who are allowing/recognizing same sex marriage. Lots of folks are traveling to those states because their home state won't allow or recognize their union. So, to fill a gap in the "market", other states are answering the call. That's exactly how a free market works... demand regulates supply, with no real outside influence needed.

Just my $.02... take it for what it's worth...

Interesting story, and I can certainly understand where he's coming from.

My local barber wouldn't serve a guy who came in smelling to high heaven of booze. He'd been two doors down at the pub, and decided to pop over for a haircut. He clearly stank of booze, and while he wasn't falling down drunk, he certainly had a solid buzz going on, was quite the Chatty Kathy to everyone etc...

Owner told him to leave and come back later...

So, maybe a more appropriate response would have been he won't serve customers who are under the influence??

Which IMO, is a completely different matter, and could be argued makes a lot of sense?

IMO, the courts are being used as a bully tool by activists to impose restrictions/conditions/imposition upon a private business and how it conducts itself. Wait, that's not just my opinion. Look at the Affordable Care Act and Hobby Lobby. Same way a vocal minority in this country use the courts to impose their views over the majority.

Anyway, I thought it might be an interesting read.

@Phrank,
the "under the influence" response makes good sense to me.

Originally Posted by Siguy

IMO, the courts are being used as a bully tool by activists to impose restrictions/conditions/imposition upon a private business and how it conducts itself. Wait, that's not just my opinion. Look at the Affordable Care Act and Hobby Lobby. Same way a vocal minority in this country use the courts to impose their views over the majority.

Anyway, I thought it might be an interesting read.

@Phrank,
the "under the influence" response makes good sense to me.

Yes, I agree.

When it transcends safety or legality and enters into the realm of an attempt to impose a value system on others, the courts then become lobbyists for special interest. Something we've been seeing far to much of in the last 20 years - the universal belief emerging that everyone's a victim, and the concept of responsibility and accountability are thrown out the window, as if personal choices do not also hold consequences.

Big article in our local paper, about many youth having trouble getting a job, and many are sporting piercings and tattoo's all over their body. I personally have no problem with it, makes no difference to me, but many employers will not hire these people for, in their opinion, not properly representing the image the company wants to portray to the public.

And therein lies the interesting point - you have every right to get tattoo's and piercings, but in the same manner, the consequences of that decision may impact your suitability for certain types of employment, and the employer feels they have every right to deny a job based on this.

Right or wrong?

Phrank, I think that's spot on!

Just because you have a choice to do what you see fit doesn't mean you won't feel consequences from what you've chosen. Case in point, this shop owner may end up out of business because enough people feel like their being snubbed. OTOH, he may see an incredible surge in business, particularly from parents who don't want their kids exposed to marijuana, because he represents a majority of folks in his community. But, it's his choice to make since it's his business.

It's a matter of "everything's permissible, but not everything's advisable".

If anyone's interested, here's a great article I read related to the concept of equal rights vs. special privileges.

This guy has the right to refuse service to to anyone. It is his business. While reading and looking at the article posted by Siguy, I notice in the background there is a large painting of Cheech and Chong haha!

Here it is..

Had a guy come over last week I made a shaving brush for.Obviously Stoned and or drunk.I took his money,said thx man.
He came back yesterday and bought two more.
Buis is Buis. Live and let live.

Originally Posted by pixelfixed

Live and let live.

I wish it were that simple. That's just what I think we'd all want here. But its gone far far beyond that.

Now, it is "I'm part of a special class now, and as such, deserve special treatment due to a perceived or imperceived slight in some way and must always be protected and genuflected before before all others because I am a VICTIM" This is the template and it is being used for everything.

I use a straight razor and I object to being excluded based on my personal preferences from not being able to select a straight razor from Walmart.... etc, etc.

Tyranny of the minority. The tyranny of the minority is not a respector of persons and is inherently destructive both to the persons of the majority and, as a philosophy, a plantation in which the minority is blindly bound.