The Law of Unintended Consequences...

...is alive and well in Knoxville, where a good chunk of the staff of the Charlie Peppers restaurant down on Cumberland Avenue suddenly found themselves unemployed.

Under the new statewide workplace smoking law, the only way a fern bar like C Peps could continue to allow smoking was to go 21-and-over, and this meant 86ing six of their employees.

"It's rough when you lose your job any time, especially when you weren't fired, you didn't quit, and you weren't ready to lose it," says Andrew Sayne, 20. "I put my heart and soul into the job."

Hey, sorry 'bout that, Andrew. Write to Chairman Phil and tell him how much you love his stupid law. And don't forget to vote.

See, the state considers you old enough to buy cigarettes and smoke them. Until very recently, the state also considered you an adult smart enough to look at a business and say "Hmm. They allow smoking there, but I'd like to work there anyway," and voluntarily enter into an employer/employee relationship with that business. But not any more. The state changed its mind and thinks you're a child again, so back into the bubble-wrap suit with you. No more Charlie Peppers, but Chairman Phil says you can work at Chuck E. Cheeze, which is safely non-smoking.