Smoking at work........

[adrianh]

My question to you > Have you any idea why a raven is like a writing desk?

None whatsoever...but I'm sure you'll tell me.

[Newretailer]

I have a tendency to call a duck a duck.

Did I judge the duck? Nope just call it by its name....

Do you honestly think you have the right to prescribe to the whole world how they must feel, what they may say, who they must employ? Sounds like a god complex. See, I just named the duck a duck

[tec0]

Do you honestly think you have the right to prescribe to the whole world how they must feel, what they may say, who they must employ? Sounds like a god complex. See, I just named the duck a duck

Again I had something typed out and just deleted at the last minute. Standing up for someone is not a god complex not by any definition. But zeroing in on someone weakness with the aim to take their livelihood away now that is a god complex.

Your play on words may make you look clever and all that... or did it?

I don't know but I do know this... Eventually you and others will have your way and more will suffer. That is not a cool thought at all. I say this because you will move on to the next thing and the next thing and before we know it oppression...

[tec0]

My question to you > Have you any idea why a raven is like a writing desk?

None whatsoever...but I'm sure you'll tell me.

No clue but its bugging me...

[tec0]

Smoking vs. Over-the-counter-drugs vs. Alcohol

And there we go

[adrianh]

I actually think that people who smoke should be castrated because that will stop them from passing the stinky gene on to their children. If the government implieents such a policy then the entire country will be rid of smokers in one generation. An alternative would be for the government to force all cigarette companies to put cyanide inside the cigarettes. That way the smoker will be able to smoke 10 packets in a lifetime and then die an absolutely horrible death.

tec0 - don't you think these are really good ideas to stop the spread of smoking?

I also think that children who are caught smoking should be banned from using their Blackberries for one year, and if they are caught smoking or using their Blackberries in that year their thumbs should be chopped off.

[tec0]

I actually think that people who smoke should be castrated because that will stop them from passing the stinky gene on to their children. If the government implieents such a policy then the entire country will be rid of smokers in one generation. An alternative would be for the government to force all cigarette companies to put cyanide inside the cigarettes. That way the smoker will be able to smoke 10 packets in a lifetime and then die an absolutely horrible death.

tec0 - don't you think these are really good ideas to stop the spread of smoking?

I also think that children who are caught smoking should be banned from using their Blackberries for one year, and if they are caught smoking or using their Blackberries in that year their thumbs should be chopped off.

wow sarcasm... All teenagers will be exposed to Alcohol and tobacco smoke before they finish school. Others will be really unlucky and get introduced to hard core drugs. I am not saying it is right but I am saying we need to protect our youth.

Really scary stuff is the possible legalization of Cannabis aka weed. If you want to get angry about something start there.

Me, i am a zero note my name "tec0" that is where I am at in the world and what I will be. So I guess you win because you get to be a 1 "active and relevant" But with that comes some responsibility. The rest is up to you.

[adrianh]

I think that boom should be legalized because all the Voortrekker were boom-rookers.


Imagine the Voortrekker getting to them mountains and Gerhardus turns to Hermanus and says: "Faaaaak Hermanus, you wanna cross them mountains with ox wagons, stuff the wagons China, let's smoke up and fly over"
- Mel Miller

[Citizen X]

Cigarrette smoking is the least of our concerns with our youth, we have a drug and alcohol abuse problem.

[AndyD]

This certainly is an emotive issue where people tend to have very strong views whatever side of the fence they're on.

When the new smoking laws came in, because of the logistics, many of the restaurants and cafes were forced to make their outside areas and balconies the smoking areas and the indoor rooms became the non-smoking areas. It used to make me laugh because obviously the non-smokers wanted the best tables in the place but they'd find themselves sitting at the best tables on the balcony or terraces with a beautiful view of the sea but slap bang in the middle of the smoking areas. I had several evenings of fun waiting for someone to moan about the smoke and then spending the rest of my evening chain smoking and deliberately blowing it in their direction. It actually doubled as a social experiment, I discovered the guys who would sit and moan the loudest to their waiter or the floor manager were actually the people who were the least directly confrontational. Out of at least a dozen evenings that I can remember there was only one guy who actually got physical about things, he was somewhat middle aged and obviously wasn't used to not getting his own way, he'd also had the benifit of a few glasses of wine. There was a brief cabaret moment when after some verbal encouragement he eventually took a couple of lumbering swings and got a flat hand across the ear for his troubles. On other occasions there was a couple of guys who stood up and were verbally confrontational but all except that one backed down when it came to crunch time.

[Dave A]

Andy, your post should have come with a coffee warning.

Oh yes, today's going to be a great day

[tec0]

If anything I would rather not smoke nor drink as I found the lifestyle to be demanding. But truth is tings hardly ever stay with a single subject. Escalation is a constant in human behaviour. First you force smokers out of your company who is next? Females because they are too much of a distraction? And it did happen less than a year ago. Men got upset because woman where doing there jobs... yea... You can't make this stuff up... See some industries are still caveman male dominated...

So where do you draw the line? The reality is human rights must be protected on the small things. If you don’t then normally escalation will follow and more rights would be lost. So if someone needs a smoke to keep her/him going introduce them to the electronic alternative or nicotine patches. Or if you want to accommodate them that is also a solution.

If you have a none smoker policy in your company then so be it. I cannot tell you what you can or cannot do. But know that toleration goes along way because there are many examples of systems with no toleration and oppression is a constant.

[adrianh]

I have no tolerance for stupidity nor mediocrity. This country is far too tolerant of horse-crap. Less tolerance and more discipline, that is what is needed.

[Newretailer]

Andy, you were lucky it ended there. I had the unfortunate privilege to watch a real blowout over smoking. I used to sell at a market where smoking was not allowed. At 5 o'clock when people packed up, the smokers would lit up where they were and not go outside. There was a man and woman next to each other who apparently didn't like each other. The woman deliberately lit up. First there was a screaming match. Then he went to fetch the fire extinguisher and blasted her with foam all over herself and her stall. All of this with a lot of screaming and shouting between them. It was a truly embarrassing incident.

The rest of us just stood there with mouths hanging open. I am very anti-smoking but wow! not quite that bad. Apparently his wife got astma attacks from her smoking. Both of them were difficult people with constant issues.

As you say, very emotive issue. I am just happy that I have the law on my side

[AndyD]

As you say the law may be on the non-smokers side if there's a smoker plying his trade in stinky and life threatening second hand smoke but the amusing thing about the non-smokers is that they so often feel the need to become the 'police men' as well. The same non-smoker might ignore it when a buddy has a few too many to drink and gets behind the wheel, they'll also throw a blind eye maybe if they see someone ding another car in the mall car park or may happily pocket the 50 bucks if a cashier makes a mistake in their favour or even tell some 'white lies' on their tax returns but the minute there's a poor defenceless smoker shivering in the cold and the rain and standing only 19.5 meters away from a building instead of the 20 meters stipulated in the local bylaws then that's a much more serious matter and certainly one that warrants getting involved with much more hands-on resolve.

Maybe there's lessons that could be learned from this that might give us insight into what makes people this motivated to lead SA in this particular respect yet turn around and cast a blind eye in so many others.