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DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
I hate smoking regulations. When I worked, at first I didnt smoke but then in 96 I started smoking again. We had this idiot of a Director who smoked in his office but swore that we couldnt and gave us a smoking room and also said we could go outside. Well about a year later he retired and a new director came in and the first thing he did was come through the building with ashtrays and put them on everyone's desks. LOL. He said if he was going to smoke in his office then it was only fair that we could smoke in ours. I had one of those ashtrays that sucked the smoke down through it to run it through a filter when I was in a room without a window. Most of the time I had a window room.

I live in a state where you still see trucks with bumper stickers that say things about tobacco...like Tobacco bought this truck. We still have tobacco sales here. It used to be one of our king crops but now that is losing out to something else. Kids started picking tobacco as early as 6 and 7. Mine did at age 8. Let me tell you that is long hard work and for very cheap wages.

I thought we would go down fighting to the death for smokers rights. Well NC and VA have done our very best to stave them off. We cant smoke in restaurants in NC or bars. I have no idea how any bar stays open any more. I believe you can get a permit for a private club and have smoking. In both states. I have still found a few restaurants in VA that you can smoke. A few. There are some motels and hotels here and in VA that you can smoke in. Even in OH I found a motel I could smoke in. Its annoying as all get out that in SC that I cant even smoke outside. I am like who in the heck owns the air? Someone needs to take things to court. There is one town in SC that you cant smoke on the beach, smoke in the town at all - not even in your car. I refuse to even go in that town. I used to visit that town but now I refuse to go there. As parts of SC start adopting the same bans, I will start refusing to go to any part of SC. A crying shame.
 
S

Signorina

Guest
For crying out loud, I am an adult and I can make the decision to not go into a bar if it is a smoking bar. Why should they take that responsiblity to control exposure to smoke in a business away? If I choose to go into a place that caters to adults only and has smoking, why do I not have that choice if they serve things other than smoke from hookahs?.

I am not making a comment on either side. Just reporting that I think the smoking ban in restaurants and bars etc was based on legislation regarding workplace hazards. Servers and wait staff exposure to second hand smoke.
 

Hound dog

Nana's are Beautiful
Well, now that I've had a nap and some coffee...........

I can be reasonable about smoking. And I try hard not to be rude to others. But most of these laws and rules have gone extreme. And I'm still difficult child enough to challenge them, every darn time I encounter it.

The one that really bugs me?? Nichole's husband was not allowed to smoke on his other job. Not only was he not allowed to smoke on campus, he was not allowed to smoke PERIOD, not at home or anywhere else. They told him they would fire him if he so much as SMELLED like smoke! But gee, he could get drunk every night if he wanted to. This is catching on fast, by the way. The "excuse" is that insurance costs are too high which is total bull. Alcohol does far much more health damage faster than smoking does. Odd, that doesn't seem to concern them. Why? Because they could NEVER get away with it and they know it. It is none of my employeers business wth I do in my home on my own time. Your paying out of pocked a set fee for your insurance. If you sit down and figure out how much you've actually paid in compared to what they've actually paid, you'd be livid. (don't forget insurance co's bargain with docs for much lower rates than what you actually see)

So, why do they do it? Because they can. And because they can, it won't be long before it's something else.......weight seems to be the next big one.
 

AnnieO

Shooting from the Hip
I am not making a comment on either side. Just reporting that I think the smoking ban in restaurants and bars etc was based on legislation regarding workplace hazards. Servers and wait staff exposure to second hand smoke.
But again - if it is my choice not to patronize a place because they allow smoking, so would it not be the servers' choice to not work there?

Also, Janet - when you came up in 2009 - whatever hotel/motel that you stayed at was, they were very clearly in violation of Ohio laws on the subject. Laws that are mostly unenforceable anyway - how can you prove a guest smoked a cigarette in the room? How do you prove it was THAT guest? Yeah. Also no smoking on public school campuses. If I am in my car, I'm not on their campus. Nevermind that I'm flicking ashes out the OPEN window... Can we say POINTLESS?
 

AnnieO

Shooting from the Hip
I can be reasonable about smoking. And I try hard not to be rude to others.
Same here - one of my BFFs is a nonsmoker, and whenever I am in the car with her - even with ME driving - I didn't. On my first date with husband, I didn't know if he smoked so I left my cigs at home.
 

susiestar

Roll With It
Actually hotels CAN tell if someone has smoked in there. There is equipment that can detect it and there are also more people than you realize that can detect it. My dad can. His sense of smell is incredible. I remember going to check into a hotel in MN and they swore it was a nonsmoking room (we were there for a wedding). My dad walked into the room, took about 3 breaths, told us not to put our stuff down and we went to the lobby and he told them that no way on earth was that room nonsmoking. They had aired it out and had it professionally cleaned and it STILL smelled strongly of smoke. We ended up with a 3 room suite for the price of that room with 2 beds. He just can smell it. I know a lot of people who can. I can. Having a window open really doesn't make much of a difference. The smell just clings to furniture, wallpaper, carpet.

I knew some people who ran a fairly nice hotel. When someone smoked in a nonsmoking room it ended up costing them over $500 to clean the room. All the bedding had to be taken out and cleaned in a special place that did some nonchemical method that got all the smoke out. They also had to come in and do the carpets wth special things, the mattresses, the walls and ceiling, everything. This is NOT a super fancy rich people only hotel, more on the level of a Hilton or maybe as nice as a Doubletree, but probably not that nice.

While I appreciate not having to walk through smoke to get itno a building, and esp if I have a cold I won't go into a store if smokers are around the only door because I cannot breathe, that is MY problem. I don't feel that nonsmokers have a right to say that smokers cannot smoke outside, or they cannot have an enclosed place to smoke. I just need a place that is not exposed to it or I cannot breathe anymore.

It used to truly infuriate me that smokers got so many breaks. most places I worked did NOT give smokers just a break int he am and one in the pm and lunch to smoke. Most smokers I knew went out to smoke at least ten minutes per hour each day. If you didn't smoke and wanted that break? Tough - you got written up - even with a nonsmoking boss. I know a LOT of people at one regional bank in the Cincy area that took up smoking because of this. I also had a LOT of restaurant employees through the years who got a LOT of extra breaks while the rest of us covered their work because they 'had' to go out and smoke or they got nasty or started messing things up on purpose. At one point I started taking coke breaks. I had a lot of people convinced i was taking cocaine breaks, but I have never touched the stuff. I got real nasty on the one mgr who tried to tell me I couldn't. He couldn't find a policy to write me up for that would justify all the smokers taking breaks out of every hour, or his 'girlfriend' breaks in the freezer of the restaurant. Esp as I had pics of his little 'girlfriend breaks'.
 

donna723

Well-Known Member
Janet, is that outdoor smoking ban in all of S. Carolina or just in one certain town? My daughter and sister in law in Charleston could end up as criminals! They both smoke but they have never smoked in the house and especially now that they have the little guy. When we visit, we take turns smoking while sitting in lawn chairs on their patio ... the garage is the alternate area if the weather is bad.

And Lisa, that insurance thing was a MAJOR gripe of mine when I was working! They still haven't done it but the State kept threatening to jack up the insurance rates of smokers to twice what other people would pay! I have two HUGE issues with that, besides that fact that in 24 years, I never had even one single insurance claim that was related to my smoking!

1. On an average, smokers may have more medical problems and doctor visits. But smokers aren't the only group who have more insurance claims and more risks. What about those who drink themselves under the table or those who drive like maniacs and tend to run in to things? Or those who choose to do drugs? Or skydive for fun? What those who are overweight? Or diabetics? They go to the doctor a lot too! And women! Young women have babies and lots of doctors appointments! And those with young children spend a lot of time in the pediatricians office! And all those annoying older people tend to have more medical problems than younger people - let's jack up their rates too while we're at it!

2. And ... the way our insurance worked, they would only be concerned about whether the employee themselves smoked or not. Makes no sense to me! All those dependents on the same policy, the spouse and the children living in the home, could be smoking like chimneys and they didn't care but they were on the same health insurance policy! It went far enough that they were threatening to come to the homes of retirees who were still on the State insurance to test them for nicotine! No joke! It hasn't happened yet but they're still threatening. I'll tell you ... if I ever see a State car pull up in front of my house to test me for nicotine, I swear I'll set the dog on them! The BIG dog!
 

AnnieO

Shooting from the Hip
Susie - actually, I can smell them a mile away now, too. Strangely. If someone in a car in front of me on the highway is smoking I can smell it. So wrong. But - LOL funny.

However, I'm not talking smoking a lot. I'm talking 1 cig. You sign a thing at the beginning that states you'll pay for other damages and I NEVER saw anyone charged for it (I worked at a Holiday Inn for a couple years).
 

InsaneCdn

Well-Known Member
Step? It DOES happen. Like, $5000 charges to get a room back to pristine. It's gotten to the place that they don't even TRY to get the smoke out of fabric.... so, new carpet, mattresses, drapes. Plus special treatment on walls and ceiling and new paint over that...

Some of the multi-part motels here keep the smoking rooms in a separate building. Even know of one with 4 sections... one can have smokers (with or without pets), one can have pets but no smoking - and neither are allowed in the other two. As a pet-owner, I think its a pretty reasonable solution...
 

Tiapet

Old Hand
This is a hot button issue and it seems like this is no middle of the road or common ground to make everyone happy unfortunately. :( I can see both sides and I'm a smoker. I think smokers are heavily penalized anymore and I'm not happy about it at all. It's all suppose to encourage people to quit but I don't think it's helping.
 

susiestar

Roll With It
I have heard the threats of testing for nicotine to determine if your rates will be higher and I know of a few people who were dropped from their employer's insurance plan because they smoked. One sued and was reinstated because there were NO clauses in the insurance documents about being charged more or being dropped if you were a smoker. I hear a lot of this type of stuff from a relative who manages several insurance practices.

If someone came to my house to see if we smoked or had junk food or had the right exercise equip or not, I wouldn't set a dog on them. I would problem greet them with a gun. I have had SOOOO many insurance problems, right down to finally when J was 6 paying off her birth because my company's ins co refused to cover it even though it WAS covered fully, that I am done putting up with this BS.

If they want to charge smokers more for insurance, or turn them down for it, FINE. Just as soon as they start charging McD's for pushing all that unhealthy food on us. Just as soon as the hormones are taken out of our beef and milk supply (I am sick of seeing 8yo girls who need girls - our elem schools are seeing girls needing bras at astoundingly early ages), and high fructose corn syrup is illegal here like it is in other countries, as soon as the pink slime in beef is illegal, and as soon as restaurants are forced to serve reasonable protions instead of 3000 calorie entrees and sandwiches. As soon as video game companies are charged for addicting out kids and as soon as advertisers have to contribute to our health care costs for pushing all the unhealthy stuff on us and for getting our kids to stop going outside because they are watching the itv.

Smoking DOES create higher healthcare costs, but so do a lot of other thing. Heck, if this is such a big deal, esp for the 'air poluution" part of it, let's also give the EPa some teeth so that maybe our kids can safely be outside at the hottest part of the day in major cities.

in my opinion this higher rates if you do this but we don't care if you do these forty other unheatlhy things because well, those are not as bad even if one is never exercising adn the other is eating 10,000 calorie per meal of chemical koi that has been added to our food supply,
 
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