[ekim68]

I was in line for a movie the other day and I heard these (probably college-age)
students talking about the future of things. And they said that in the future
we'll have these 'oxygen bars' where people can go and catch their breath,
so to speak...And, after the oxygen reprieve, they can go back outside and
face the elements.....

[angelize56]

The concept isn't really new...look at Michael Jackson...he has his own oxygen chamber! I don't think I'd go into a parlor to pay for some 02....besides....I still have several tanks of the stuff in my home from when I came home from the hospital in January 2004 recovering from bilateral pulmonary embolism....free 02 in the privacy of my own home!

[WarC]

First bottled water, now oxygen bars...

"Lets pay money to breath scented air through a mask!"

[teengeekgrrl]

I heard that they actually do that in Beijing, I believe... little oxygenated rooms you can rent out after work because the air is so smoggy there.

[brendandonhu]

They have them here...

[shiraz71]

We have them here in Toronto.

[poochee]

They are not new.

[ekim68]

Wow, I'm amazed...I thought it was just talk..

[AKA Arizona]

What would do while in the O2 Bar? surf the internet, drink booze? health drinks? how long do you stay? what does it cost?

[ekim68]

Probably watch a sports game on tv while the brain cleared...The cost of watching
it in a bar is normally a drink or two....Or, a breath or two....

[loserOlimbs]

Just hope they don't allow smoking...
But seriously, I know they have had them for sometime, but aren't there health risks from breathing too much O2?

[angelize56]

Originally Posted by loserOlimbs

Just hope they don't allow smoking...

As a nurse I can tell you that'd be a disaster!

[angelize56]

Some of you might prefer this type of parlor!

The ACLU will probably step in soon and say that the bars are only being targeted as mostly middle easterners hang out there!

Orange County City Regilates Hookah Bars

Thursday, October 27, 2005 4:31 a.m. ET

By GILLIAN FLACCUS Associated Press Writer

<snip>ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- Mohammed Elkhatib surveyed his cafe and shook his head _ no belly dancers, no live music, no dance floor. Just a handful of clean-cut men sitting around puffing tobacco from hookahs and watching Game 3 of the World Series.

Business isn't likely to pick up anytime soon. After fielding hundreds of complaints from angry residents, the City Council on Tuesday night tentatively approved an ordinance targeting the 11 hookah bars that have popped up along the city's Little Gaza strip in the past five years.

<snip>Elkhatib's Fusion Cafe is one of many hookah bars around the country where young Arab-Americans and others gather to smoke flavored tobacco from the elaborate water pipes. But few have stirred as much controversy as those in Anaheim.

City officials deny they are attacking the Middle Eastern tradition and insist that some hookah lounges have blatantly exploited a loophole in the city code to act as unregulated clubs and bars in residential areas.

In the past two years, police have responded 499 times to disturbances around the clubs involving drunkenness, gang fights, theft, arson and drug use.

http://wireservice.wired.com/wired/s...toryId=1108253

[loserOlimbs]

Hookah bars. That is a great idea, a place where all the social smokers can go. Really, what could be better then finding a place that lets you smoke diferent tabocco strains.