Saturday, January 20, 2007

Warning: Smoking may be Hazardous toward your Coworker's Health(and Sanity)



Put your sweet lips, a little closer, to the hose
Breathe monoxide in your lips, and out your nose
You might feel, a little tingling, in your toes
Cuz when Kevorkian make a house call- it's time to go.

(Glick and Phillips(Sorta!) Live, Volume #1 )

I'm a pretty tolerant person, I believe that an individual (as long as he's not doing harm to anyone else) should be able to drug ,snort, smoke, booze, and whatever else he wants to do to his/her body, legally. It's their life- whether or not it's the responsible thing to do isn't the issue, you can't legislate stuff like that. People will do it anyway. I do have a problem with it, if you get behind the wheel(under the influence) of said mind-altering substance and do harm to another, because of your own stupidity. Otherwise, go knock yourself out.

And diabetes wise- I have no problem watching other people eat whatever they want, though when most of it is simple carbohydrate items, its kind of mildly irratating but not overly so. Just find something you can eat w/out too much bg drama, and move on.

But when it comes to cigerrette smokers in the immeadiete vicinity, said tolerance ends. At work- the smoking lunch room is adjoining the non-smoking lunch room, on a sunny day one hardly notices the wafting stink.(alot of them will go outside-right off the side of the smoking lunch room) but on a wet/snowy day, all of them will congregate in the s.room + the smell will seep into the nonsmoking room, by lunchtime its as bad in there as it is in the smoking room.

It's not just the smell-my lungs can't take it, I get wheezy and gotta go eat somewhere else.
I asked one of my (smoking) coworkers once if she even cared if someone ever fell over dead from her contributions, and she said I was just making a big drama out of it. Yep, thanks to these(and other such) responsible individuals- if I don't die immeadietly from an asthma attack, I can look forward to second-hand exposure lung cancer down the road. Many people in management also smoke, so it's not like they'd listen to a reasonable arguement.
I wish our facility had a no smoking on premises rule, but what really bugs me is alot of smokers don't care at all what happens to anyone else(in this regard, most of my coworkers are otherwise nice people).
Smoke at home, people. You're making my albuterol copay go through the roof.

7 comments:

Major Bedhead said...

What state do you live in? You can't smoke in any public building in Massachusetts. Not even in a bar. That would annoy me no end - I don't blame you for being angry about it.

Christine said...

Same with NY.

Kassie said...

Moving from MA to Virginia was a big change - I had forgotten what restaurants with smoking allowed were like! Blech.

But we are the tobacco state, after all :( I'm interested to see if the recent talk of banning smoking indoors goes anywhere.

Chrissie in Belgium said...

In Belgium, emplyees cannot smoke in the building. But you know what happens......the smokers group outside the entrance on the sidewalk. So how do you get into the building or even pass the building without delugings yourself in the smoke. I really do feel like a whiner and I KNOW how terribly difficult it is to quit smoking since my Mom has tried and not suceeded oh so many times..... There is a very funny commericial at the movies now. One person goes to a coke machine and gets coke. Then a smoker goes and gets a coke; she puts in her money but nothing comes out. The machine is empty. But then the previous person who got the coke looks at the young girl smoking and her thoughts appear as text on the screen with sad music..... She hands the smoker her coke. Why? -the poor girl doesn't have long to live - let her enjoy what life has to offer for just a little bit more. We are talking about the little pleasure of drinking coke. It is a good anti-smoling ad. Well-produced and particularly aimed at the young girls in Belgium which statistics show smoke even more than boys now! Sometimes when I pass young kids smoking I feel so sorry for "humanity"! Why are people so stupid? Why do we not appreciate what we have before we loose it? Everybody thinks - ME?!, nothing is going to happen to me.....
Heidi - I have been so good! I deserve a star - I have treated the lows since my promise. I DO let myself do the bg control twice if I don't believe it. I am SO hardheaded and do not believe I am low if I feel just fine. But I AM following my rule!

Drea said...

In Nova Scotia, you can not smoke in any public place at all....I agree with you!

Heidi said...

I'm with you on the non-tolerance towards smoke and smoking!

Here in DK new rules will become effective by April 1st making all restaurants, bars etc. non-smoking areas. Just the proposal caused a prompt outrage from the Danish smokers ;-) I am definitely looking forward to it, though.

At the university where I work the smoking policy has been strongly emphasized within the last few years. In theory all hallways and offices should be non-smoking areas. However, the professor emeritus of our group is a continuous smoker, smoking heavily in his office, but also not minding bringing his cigarette along when he walks through the lab, leaving a smoke trace behind him!

HVS said...

Maybe I should move to another state-or another country..
The only smoke-free places around here are hospitals.