:rolleyes:
When you explain to the boss that it’s unfair that smokers get breaks and non-smokers don’t and if he doesn’t want the owner of the place slapped with a lawsuit, he’ll normally change his tune.
Yet you boldly state the “restaurant industry needs oversight” because of the low pay, lack of breaks, lack of health care, and lack of vacation. Not my experience, and would be willing to bet not most other people’s experiences either. If anyone is “pushing an agenda” it’s you sweetheart.
Ouch.
You can’t file a lawsuit because “it’s unfair” that non-smokers don’t get breaks, if breaks are not mandated in your state. Moreover, it costs money to hire an attorney. How many waitresses can afford that?
So you’re saying the majority of waitstaff jobs provide health insurance, pay more than minimum wage, provide paid breaks, and paid vacation (or ANY days off)? You’re living in a dreamworld.
Meh, it is pretty stupid. I’ve never smoked and most of the people I know have never smoked, but the ones that did mostly did it to get breaks at work. Yeah, they could have stood up to their boss and demanded to go on short breaks too but I have a feeling most of them would have been afraid to complain for fear they would end up working Tuesday nights and Sunday mornings until they were forced to quit because they only made $18 a week. You just asked for reasons why young people smoke, you never specified that they had to be good reasons.
I know of many in my city that offer health plans for full-time workers. Not sure how good the plan is, but that’s not the point here.
Paid breaks, of course. You take a break when you can get a way from your tables without neglecting them.
Waiters earn more than minimum wage. They work for tips. If you don’t earn more than minimum wage from your tips, you suck as a server, or you work at the wrong restaurant. In college, I made about $20 an hour serving. And this was 12 years ago. I worked at a national chain.
I don’t believe paid vacation is an option for waiters. They work for tips, remember? Not the $2.13 server minimum wage.
As for days off, that was very easy. Don’t make yourself available on the days you want off or find another server to cover your shift.
(never mind - I should read the entire thread before posting)
So true.
People are stupid. People in their 20s especially.
I suspect that the OP dislikes smoking.
Is it that obvious? :rolleyes: Not what I would call a hidden agenda.
In the US alone, it kills over 400,000 people per year and costs our economy about $100 billion a year. What’s to like about it?
I was a social smoker up until December of 2010. I mainly smoke when I drank, which was often. Many times, I’d smoke a pack in a night. Now that I’ve quit, I’ve never felt better. Just being around smoke seriously repulses me. Quitting was the best thing I ever did.
I had associated smoking with two things: drinking and stress relief. Breaking those connections was key to quitting. When drinking now, the thought of getting a pack will cross my mind occasionally, but luckily I’ve been able to fight it off.
Smoking has been getting less common overall but younger people smoke more often. I’m guessing that’s always been the case just for the social and looking-cool reasons, not to mention the pressures involved with school. As you get older, you’re more likely to quit smoking. Here’s some CDC data about how often people smoke. As of 2006, about 20.8 percent of U.S. adults were smokers, and people age 18 to 24 had the highest rate at 23.9 percent. It drops off a little among people 25 to 44 but really plunges among people over 65. If you think about it they’d be the most likely to have major health problems from smoking or otherwise. Incidentally, as education increases - assuming you get some kind of degree - smoking goes way down. 46 percent of people with a GED are smokers, compared to only 6.6 percent of people with graduate degrees.
I identify completely with that quote. I started smoking when I was about 17 and continued pretty consistently (prolly half a pack a day) for 8 years or so. Then I ONLY smoked when I drank- but I drank plenty. I quit entirely last year when my husband and I decided to have a baby. I think i’ll always be a smoker at heart, but I believe my ability to not smoke for the sake of my child’s health and my health is paramount.
My husband’s Grandfather was recently told he has a bit of the emphysema and will have to go on oxygen… this after being smoke free for 22 years. I hear this and I know that I want to look back on my life and see that I was smart enough and strong enough not to smoke, even tho I wanted to.
But back to the topic… I’m 29, and all my friends who smoke are big drinkers too. I believe 100% that if they all quit drinking, 90% of them would quit smoking as well. I’m not saying that theyre not addicted, i’m just saying that the drinking heavily compounds it in my circle of friends. My experience is that those who have quit drinking to start families and do other things, have quit smoking entirely.
Oh, yeah? Everyone who has ever worn a hat is either dead or will be dead.
So, there.
Is that why Jesus is never pictured wearing a hat? Nor is there any mention of him wearing a hat in the new testament. Eternal life awaits.
Why do people drink alcohol? Why do people do cocaine? Why are so many people disgustingly fat? Why would anyone gamble in a casino? Why would someone spend dozens of hours a week playing WOW? Why would someone become emotionally invested in the success of a professional sports team? Why do people spend $50 buying a jersey that represents a professional sports team? Why do some people engage in mountain climbing purely for fun?
People are different. They value different things.
My daughter is now 20. All her life, starting at a very young age, we have had discussions about smoking. I let her know all the reasons I hoped she would never smoke, and how important it was for me to help her understand the stink, the cost, the addiction potentional, the health risks. I didn’t do this with alcohol, drugs, sex (things that, IMHO, can be rational choices for adults who understand the risks, etc). Of course, she started smoking in high school, and kept it going for first year of college. Why? I think she thought it would help her control her weight.
She has now quit, at the insistence of her boyfriend. Just goes to show you who has more influence on a young adult.
I only smoke occassionally, like 4 cigarrets in 2011. I mainly smoke to meet women and if they go out to smoke I’ll bum one I’m not concerned that it will affect my health. I also enjoy cigars and smoked two of them a week and a half at a crawfish boil. I only smoke about 5-10 a year and I enjoy them very much. I’m not concerned about the health risks at that consumption level.
As far as my friends one is a smoker and he mainly smokes because most of our manajement smokes and it is very beneficial to be friends with the boss so he started smoking while he was hanging out with tme at work. Two of my other friends only smoke when they drink so maybe a half a pack a week at most. In fact one of them bought a pack about 3 weeks ago and his wife flipped out on him for being a smoker.
I don’t think any of them are worried about the health concerns since it is enjoyable in the moment and the two drinking smokers also climb mountains and run 5Ks for fun. I think that we look at the older smokers and see people like my grandmother who smoked a pack a day and didn’t get cancer until she was in her late 60s and figure that if we cut our consumption and do additional healthyl things it will come close enough to balancing out. I also chew but I limit myself to a maximum of one bag per month which means I chew at most 4 out of every 30 days. I started to fit in but now I mainly use it to help me stay up on long drives and then get to enjoy it at work to make the day go by faster until I run out. Again I figure based on my consumption rates I’ll be ok.
I don’t agree that the answer to the OP is as simple as saying that people are different. And smoking among 20-30 year olds is not as easily compared to the list of activities you listed.
When you have roughly 1/5 of a segment of the population participating in an activity that is actively promoted as something that is addictive and will kill you over time…it’s worth asking why.