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Originally Posted by little_tippler
I think that's really unlucky and it's not right. I have never smoked and having been around heavy smokers all my life, I'll tell you that I have put up with it, but I hate it. I have friends and family who smoke - but I still don't like it.
Why the hell should others have to inhale smokers' cigarette smoke? Why should others have to be passive smokers? I think smoking is a nasty habit, because it's bad for the smokers' health as well as for those who are sitting near the smokers, and I don't see why people should be allowed to impose this on others. If it didn't affect other people negatively, fine, smoke yourself to death see if I care. But that's not the case.
And I'm sorry but suggesting that Nancy should wear a face-mask is preposterous! For goodness' sake, why does she have to suffer because someone else has a nasty habit and is inconsiderate? Nancy, I'm not sure what your office's policy is but I'm betting somewhere in their "rules" will be something about co-workers not being permitted to harm others knowingly, or about there having to be some sort of peace keeping between workers. I think that if you quit your job it would be almost like you were harrassed out of it.
I'm not saying that your boss will do anything about it, because the real world usually sucks that way, but he really should. Also if you work up a fuss of course your co-workers may have it in for you. I have no solutions to offer but I think it's very unfair for you and I'll be glad when people are no longer allowed to blow their smoke in your face in a public place.
Sorry to get worked up but I think this is a position that Nancy shouldn't have to be in.
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Haha don't be sorry.. afterall I think we're all on the same side on this issue
I'm certainly not going to wear a face-mask. The idea
is funny and I'd certainly get my point across that way but it would be too dramatic a way to go about it. No, I shouldn't have to resort to such drastic measures in order to make them stop smoking.
It really would seem like I had been harrassed out of this job if I quit which is exactly why I'm not going to. I refuse to let them win.
I can't wait for the smoke ban to go into effect in Denmark - Then I won't have to deal with this ever again in the future.
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Originally Posted by JinnKai
If there's one thing I've learned in the last year is that my HEALTH is far more important than my job, school, or really anything else. If I can't be healthly, I don't enjoy any of them. Furthermore, I might lose my job in 5 years, I might be out of school in 1 year, but my health will always be with me.
That said, your health should take precedence here. This obviously isn't something you can handle directly, and although your coworkers will resent you, this is something for management to do. They'll be pissed as hell that you "tattled" on them, but a manager's JOB is to make sure that his or her underlings are being as productive and happy as they can reasonably be. If your manager can't suck it up and do his fucking job, then he needs a new fucking job. I don't know if you have it in Denmark, but in the US we have a group called OSHA - Occupational Safety and Health Administration - which works to ensure that workplaces are healthy and safe. They'd love to hear about a manager letting workers suffer migraines daily becuase of an unsafe workplace. Look to see if there's anything there that is similar. And use it to pressure your boss. Bring it up to him again, and tell him the things you told us -- that you can't even concentrate with the migraines, that you need your training.. etc.
And I'd do a little research into your program - ask them if health would be a valid reason for not completing your training. If all else fails, you'll at least have a back-out plan for these inconsiderate bastards.
I'd never even heard of a place that allowed smoking indoors -- that's shocking. If it were me, I'd start lacing their cigarettes with some illicit drug and then encourage random drug testing. |
what a creative mind you have, JinnKai!
You're absolutely right about health being the most important thing. That's why I won't hesitate to drag the boss, the board nor the union into this if I have to.
We don't have a OSHA-like group in Denmark but we do have a safety representative instead; a person who co-operates with the manager in ensuring a healthy and safe working environment. I talked to Erik about Helle's reaction yesterday and he was all astonishment. He said that if he wasn't able to fix this then he'd ask Anne Mette, the safety representative, to take over. He promised me that no matter what we'd figure this out together. I felt
so much better after that conversation, knowing that at least one person in this place supported and understood me.
About 15 minutes later I saw that he was talking to Helle in the big printer room. I had a feeling that he was addressing the problem so I returned to my department and let them talk it through.
A few moments later I was talking to Jørgen (another guy from my department) when Helle suddenly addressed me in a more civilized manner than earlier. She asked me why I hadn't mentioned my migraine problem during the job interview. I simply replied "It didn't come up" and then went on talking to Jørgen, paying her no more attention - partly because I didn't want to expose Jørgen to what could turn out to be a nasty conversation but mostly because I simply didn't want to talk to her anymore. After her rude rejection ealier I realized that if we were to find a sensible solution to this then it wouldn't be achieved by me solely communicating with her.
I have no idea what Erik said to her yesterday but it worked! She has either been smoking outside or right beside one of our big, open windows today. She hasn't even commented on it or made a fuss about it when she went outside with Carl - I'm so relieved that this didn't turn into a nasty war between her and I. I am, however, greatly dissapointed and angry that she had to be cut down to size by our shop steward representative before she'd take her cigarette smoke elsewhere.
So everything's good at the moment - I can finally do my job properly now and enjoy being at work. There are two possible obstacles though; one is Birgit - I wonder what she'll say about all this when she gets back from her vacation. I think she'll be co-operative, though but one never knows.
And the other is when winter comes. If they start smoking around me again then I guess I'll try to remind them about my migraine at first and if that doesn't help, get Erik to help me again.