Created: 11/23/2009 1:26:40 PM 
Thomasville, NC -- "I don't want to feel like I'm an outlaw," says Tom Lawson, owner of the Whistlestop Cafe in Thomasville.
He watches more than half of his customers light up.
"It's pretty hard for me to take a fella who's been smoking at my place of business for 20 years and he's eating with me and we've enjoyed times together you know.. and man you can't do that here no more. I feel like I'd be impersonating an officer, tell him he can't smoke in here," says Lawson.
"He should be able to do like he wants to. If you don't smoke and you don't want to be around don't come in the front door, you know?" says one of the Whistlestop's customers.
As of January 2, 2010, anyone walking through the door will find a smoke-free environment. It's a transformation not only for Tom's customers, but for himself.
"It's gonna cramp my style yeah. Yeah I can hang my head out the window there and blow myself. But the real thing is what are you doing to the customer that you loved so badly so faithfully for so many years?"
Not all bar and restaurant managers think their profits will go up in smoke. For Natty Greens, barkeeps look forward to putting and end to the butts.
"I think it's fine because it's going to be for everywhere they go out in Greensboro, it's not just here, it's everywhere, and I just think that we might get more families in here to stay longer now that there's not cigarette smoke inside," manager for Natty Green's. "We have to clean the walls all the time, you know from smoking, it stains walls, it stains everything so it will be a cleaner place here."
But will restaurants clean up in tabs? 2 Wants to Know looked at states and cities that said "no" to smoking for those places. From Massachusetts to Ft. Wayne, Indiana to Flagstaff, Arizona, study after study show a ban had no effect on sales. Some places, sales even went up such as Albuquerque, New Mexico which saw a 6.5% increase in gross receipts. In Florida, restaurant sales jumped 7 percent, and in New York, New York, the largest city in the US, sales went up 8.7%
But for the owner of the Whistlestop, he'll do whatever it takes to make sure his customers can still light up.
"The little Whistle Stop will survive with or without it you know, I'll come up with some kind of tricky idea. Probably I'm gonna make myself a Whistle Stop Café Private bar. And we'll go on smoking and having a good time."
To find out what kinds of places will be exempt from the smoking ban, click here.
WFMY News 2
