Update: Apparently this is far from over.
When Birgit got back from her vacation last monday she continued smoking indoors. Tuesday I asked her again if she would mind going outside and smoke - instead of answering my question she replied that she had told the safety representative about the problem and that we’d have to wait and see what kind of solution they would come up with. She then returned to work and lit up another smoke
Once Helle saw that Birgit was smoking inside, she started doing it too. So I spent the rest of that week breathing through my sweater each time they were both smoking.
Friday I received an E-mail from the guy who had hired me, asking me to step into his office. I looked forward to the conversation as I couldn’t wait to settle this mess once and for all. Through all this time I thought that once he or the safety representative learned about my problem that they’d take care of the problem immediately and pay regards to my health. But no.
He said that he didn’t want to enforce a smoking ban here; he didn’t like being the guy who got to tell other people what they could or could not do.
According to him, the smokers felt stepped on because of me (how the fuck do you think it makes me feel when my co-workers and boss won’t pay regards to my health?!) and he’d like to come up with some sort of solution which would consider the interests of both sides. His brilliant solution to the problem is this:
Place me in the other side of the room.
Like that’s suppose to make a huge difference?! If we’re in the same room, then I’ll still be inhaling their smoke, numbskull.
He said that he was going to talk to each of us in here, individually, about the problem to see if the others had some ideas for a solution that we could all live with.
But after talking to Erik about it during lunch today, it seems like the guy who hired me (numbskull) considers this matter to be closed because, apparently, he’s already decided that the solution to this problem is the one he came up with himself.
He’s got another thing coming, I tell you.
I refuse to put up with this crap. It’s not as if I’m making an unreasonable demand here. All I ask is that they move their asses and go 2,5 metres in one direction in order to reach the doors leading outside or 15 metres in the other direction in order to reach the big printing room every time they want to smoke. How hard can that be?!
I’m pissed at him and dissapointed about his way of handling this. I mean, this shit is making me sick - why would he even hesitate to make them smoke elsewhere when he knows that?!
When he gets in here in order to talk about which spot we should move my desk to I’m going to explain to him, again, that their smoke is making me sick and that his solution won’t help at all. And if he still won’t make them go someplace else to smoke, then I’ll take this matter to the safety representative and if she refuses to do anything about it, then I’ll have to contact my labor union.
*sigh*