I suspect the stinky, disgusting bastard that smokes where I work smokes “Olde Tyre” brand. He absolutly reeks.
Tell me about it! This guy is an intern, and his job is to answer the phones. And he’ll quietly slip away and not tell anyone he’s gone, and the phone will ring and ring and finally we’ll answer it because obviously he’s gone. Yeah it does bother me because it seems he is taking an awful lot of breaks but he gets away with it because he just sneaks out without anyone noticing. I wouldn’t notice except for the stench when he gets back.
Of course, even though I am in a semi-supervisory role, I still don’t want to be a tattle-tale or say anything. All I ask is for him to tell us he’s going out so we can answer the phones in his absence and deodorize himself before he comes back in. Do these people realize how much they stink?
Three cubes away? Seriously? Unless he’s actually smoking in his cube, I’ve got a bit of a hard time believing that. Or are you talking about when he walks past you to go back to his cube? How small are your cubes? I’m just having a hard time wrapping my mind around that one…
:dubious:
[hijack]
** Boo Boo Foo** - I absolutely agree, and I’m a smoker. I never toss butts out the window of my car, and always put them out in an ashtray or trashcan (I put them out first, then toss `em). However, there have been instances where there have ben NO trashcans or ashtrays in front of stores or places where I worked. I’ll go out of my way to toss a butt, but sometimes there’s just nowhere for them to go.
When I worked at B&N, about 90% of us smoked. However, there weren’t ANY ashtrays or trashcans outside, where the patio furniture was. So, where did butts go? On the ground.
Sometimes I’ll put them in my pocket, but . . . I really have no excuse for dropping them on the ground. I do it.
[/hijack]
Christ, can’t you non-smokers give it a rest. If the guy smells bad, do the same thig you would do with anybody else who smelled bad, stay away as much as you can.
It’s bad enough that he has to leave the office just because you can’t stand a little second hand smoke. Whine, whine whine, grow up and go out and do something for that smog ridden environment with all that whining time. Go out and do something proactive for a change, whiners.
You’re being sarcastic, right?
Maybe not.
So I should stay away as much as I can? How exactly should I do this when he sits in the diagonal cube across from me? Should I just leave work? Um, I don’t think that is an option. To me, this guy’s stench is just as bad as rotting garbage or really bad body odor. No one should have to breathe that in an office environment.
He’s an intern to learn job skills, right? Slipping out without notifying others that one’s duties are unattended is NOT a positive job skill. Someone needs to clue him in on this. If not you, then someone else. Also, someone needs to talk to him about his odor. He might very well be smoking the very cheapest cigarettes or cigarillos, if he’s got such a nicotine habit.
Well, if you are going to be picayune then ask for another cubicle (or demand it as you smoking marshalls are known to do). Or report him for being away from the office so much, maybe he’ll be replaced with a non-smoker.
Keep in mind however, that employers sometimes look upon the individual complaining as the source of the problem rather than what is being complained about.
I’d ask myself this question - are other people in the office noticing this “rotting garbage odor” and “stench” - because if not, well that should tell you something.
Looks like county is just being his usual caustic self.
I smoked for 17 years but quit of my own volition when I married a non-smoker, so hopefully I’m somewhat impartial on this. It’s a nasty, offensive habit but it’s still a smoker’s right to light up when it doesn’t directly compromise those who don’t. Regardless, it’s a hard habit to kick, many won’t, and we’ve got to find some way to lessen it’s impact on us.
I’d sure like to see something as simple as a fan to be set up near smoking areas. Any smoker that stands upwind of it will will be significantly less impacted by clinging reekish particles than someone who just stands in the smoky waft. It’s not practical everywhere but it could provide relief for a substantial portion and would be a much appreciated start.
Now country, I’ve bit my tongue at numerous posts of yours in the past because I’d like to give anyone the benefit of the doubt. Unfortunately, you’ve removed every last vestige… you’re a two legged chair of logic and reason and, inexplicably, usually looking for a conflict to boot. That just makes no sense.
Unpreventable B.O. is one thing. CHOOSING to garb yourself in offensive and potentially dangerous smoke while others around you maintain consideration for fellow workers is another entirely. The onus for avoidance should be on us why?
Wow. Just wow. Someone better be ready to trudge a fucking marathon before he gives another person cancer. Not terribly surprised your brain advocates laziness.
This may be the single biggest brain fart I’ve ever witnessed here on the boards. Do you even realize what you just said?
And sometimes a smelly, work avoiding bastard really is a smelly, work avoiding bastard.
Well, I’m the same way. I can smell a cigarette in a car six cars back from me at a traffic light.
I once dated a man who smoked. I could smell it on him even after he was fresh out of the shower. Absolutely leached out from his pores, it was the nastiest smell.
Anyway, yes, some do smell that bad that they can reek up to that far away.
You are right to be dubious. I have a regretfully sharp sense of smell. And my office has crappy circulation that is probably running air past his cube to mine. We’re all in one small room, there’s maybe 15 feet from my chair to his as the crow files. He’s just saturated with smoke all the time.
They’re like the candle in the next room you just blew out.
Strike that. They’re like the ass candle in the next room you just blew out. Tricky shit, that smoky smell is. Ubiquitous, penetrating tricky shit. Bleh.
Impartial, right.
As far as the personal attacks/insults - see post above, I am only “caustic” but your input will be given appropriate consideration.
You people who quit are usually the biggest goobers on this topic.
Regardless of the “smoking” issue - that’s good advice about considering how the management is going to view the “complaint.” If the OP is the only one noticing the “stench” and the intern is cranking out good work and plenty of it; well, I know how I’d respond if I was running a business.
There was one poster here on this board who mentioned that the “smoker” who took many smoke breaks was significantly out-performing the non-smoker who was at her desk all shift.
The first five words of my post, and damn near the only part of the first sentence you refused to include. Nice disingenuous start.
I’ll skip your garbled middle. Don’t make me try and discern your point.
Are you on acid? Not in this thread. You’re resorting to vague, unlinked references to some half remembered bookmark within the complete history of this board? Why? The OP specifically states the person in question’s habits (just getting up and leaving without notice for extended periods) have a detrimental effect on his/her productivity.
In this case, one of the smoker’s jobs is to answer the phones. Apparently you didn’t notice that part. The smoker is ducking out of the workplace, leaving his duty (answering the phones) undone, and not notifying anyone so that they can pick up the phones when they DO ring. This makes me wonder how often the guy is getting away with a break when the phones don’t ring. In any case, his job requires his physical presence so that he can answer the phones when they ring.
Again, I think that the solution is to have his supervisor have a little heart-to-heart talk with him. He needs to take fewer breaks, he needs to notify people when he DOES step outside on his allowed breaks, and he needs to do something about his odor, if in fact he reeks. And I’ve smelled some smokers who do reek, and I’ve been surprised to find some people who smoke but don’t have a whiff of smokiness about them. I think that ANY worker with ANY odor problem, no matter what causes it, should have someone take them aside and tactfully explain that they need to do something about their stench. It is simply not fair for co-workers to have to put up with a horrid smell that can be eliminated or reduced.
Attitudes like this are the reasons why smoking is regulated more & more. To quote a friend:
Smokers, as a group, have to be some of the most inconsiderate people around. I know there are plenty of considerate smokers, but so many treat the world as their ashtray.
When I smoked cigarettes people delighted in telling me that I smelled bad from smoking. I’d get comments constantly, especially when I was an undergrad and would smoke before going into class. Since my sense of smell was dead, I didn’t realize how bad it was until I quit.
While in grad school there was an Indian woman in one of my classes who smelled so bad no one would sit next to her. When she came in and sat down, everyone around her would move, it was that bad. I made a comment about it one day to a fellow student and was told, “Maybe it’s a part of her culture. You need to be more tolerant and accepting” and a bunch of other PC shit. So now someone’s offensive body odor is a part of their culture and must be protected. Next time I’m having a cigar and someone says I stink, I’m going to start screaming that I’m being persecuted and that my culture is being trampled on. A simple “Fuck You” is no longer sufficient.
I work with a guy who smokes the stinkiest cigarettes (Camel Straights). The smell of those on his clothes is enough to make you want to vomit, but what really gets me is how when he’s done smoking his cigarette, he rolles the cherry out between his fingers then puts the fucking butt INTO his pocket and comes back in side, I can smell him from the other end of the pressroom. Not to mention he’s a heavy drinker and doesnt bathe or brush his teeth. The combination of cigarettes, beer, and vomit on his breath is enough to make anyone go running for the bathroom.
[QUOTE=gluteus maximus]
Residual odor from smoking isn’t the same as second-hand smoke…
[QUOTE]
That “residual odor” is awful. It clings to clothes and hair and is just foul.
It stinks up their cubical or office and the surrounding area. I used to work with a woman who was a heavy smoker and her office stunk, and she never even smoked in there. It was ‘transfer’ from when she came in from smoke breaks.
Smokers don’t even realize how bad they actually smell.