Theme and comments | Illustrative quotations |
A question of rights: Explicit debate about whether smoking is a right Mixed opinions on the entitlement of non-smokers to a completely smoke-free workplace | No[,] smoking is not a protected right. In fact, smokers usually find themselves the constant source of violating someone else's rights by subjecting them to smoke. A person has a right to choose to smoke, but, other individuals have the right not to be exposed to second hand smoke. When you said that you didn't want anyone smoking ‘anywhere near’ you, you seemed to be stepping over the line where you have every right to be in control (in your home, car, etc) to areas where your desires may be in conflict with someone else's desires. At that point, it becomes a situation requiring some negotiation and compromise. |
Tolerance and intolerance | Intolerant? I just like clean air. I like my clean air space…I choose not to smoke and will not be put in a position where I have to put up with it because I might hurt somebody's precious feelings. I don't smoke either, but this intolerant attitude makes me want to puke. |
Addiction: Acknowledgement of addiction Variable attitudes regarding tolerance of addictive behaviour | I know it's addictive. But there's help out there. […] You still stink. […] Maybe you don't understand why someone can let cigarettes rule their lives, but that statement says more about you and your understanding of addiction than it does about smokers. |
You and I smell different(ly): Disagreement over the smell per se and its aversiveness | Maybe because your olfactory senses are shot, you don't realise how bad it smells. I don't care to talk with someone after they have a smoke because it's still on their breath. It's on your clothes. In your hair, your vehicle, your very presence. It gets on your grandchildren when they come for a visit. It reeks. As a former smoker, my opinion is (was) that if it doesn't affect anyone else, it should be my right to poison my own damn self anytime I saw fit. When it begins to affect someone else's health or even their comfort or smell, that infringes on THEIR right not to smell my smoke. […] |
Inadequate justification: Smell as insufficient justification for restrictions Protests that health arguments are used to justify preferences, and descriptions of an anti-smoking stance as political correctness, a movement, or belief system | […]he really doesn't care about 'health issues' but just wants to blow a smokescreen over the fact his real objection to smoking is that he doesn't like it. He is entitled to not like tobacco smoke. But he is NOT entitled to be intolerant of it unless he does nothing that annoys anyone else. You have every right to complain on a health basis. You have no such right to complain about a bad smell. |
Advice to speak up and how: Encouragement to raise issues with supervisors Expressions of thanks for advice on how to broach the subject. | Try and play nice. It will probably work better than threats. Besides, their hammer is probably as big as yours and then what have you gained? Tread lightly when dealing with smokers, but I would do it anyway. Speak up, say something (without being preachy; smokers won't react well to that, trust me) and if they're good guys, they'll stop in your general vicinity. |