I was eating a burrito at the Qdoba yesterday, and my seat was facing the door. I noticed that a sign on the window stated something to the effect that Qdoba was happy to provide a smoke-free environment for its patrons. I have seen similar signs at many places of business over the past year.

Around the time I moved to Philly, the city was preparing to institute the indoor-business smoking ban. These bans have been cropping up around the country. Essentially, what these self-congratulatory signs tell the patrons is that these places of business are complying with the law and should be praised for doing so. These signs stem from the larger trend of businesses trying to convince their patrons that everyone including the customers is just one big happy family because, really, we are all in this together. It is not about the money; it is about fellowship.