To the editor:
I would like to respond to the letter by Robert Dettman (Forum, Jan. 19) who believes Hardee's is taking away his wife's freedom to choose whether to smoke in a restaurant or not.I have worked in a small restaurant in the valley for the pasts seven years. I would choose not to work if I could, but I also choose not to go on welfare. I choose not to smoke, but for the past seven years, I have been subjected to second-hand smoke for many hours a day. Smokers come into our small restaurant and smoke several cigarettes during their lunch breaks and they get up and go back to their smoke-free workplaces.
My fellow workers and I must stay inside and breathe this smoke for hours after the smokers have left. I have seen this restaurant repainted seven times since I have worked here (at quite an expense to the owner) because the walls have turned black from the smoke. I cannot imagine what the inside of my lungs must look like, but I have children who I would like to see grow up.
Jo White
West Jordan