Conference quark::human_relations-v1

Our site started the DSA's on Oct. 3.  As a result, many smokers have quit or at
least cut down.  It was easier to cut down when "forced to" (because of the
amount of time it takes to get to the room), than it was to cut down on their
own.  Our site also provided "quit smoking" seminars ahead of time.  Most of the
smokers I know don't have a problem with the new policy and are using it to
benifit them. 

I don't notice any of my smoking collegues missing for any great lengths of
time. 

As a non-smoker, I love it.  My eyes don't sting and water all day long anymore.
(my office is surrounded by smokers)

LN

    
    Our office changed to DSA's only about a year ago.  When it first
    came about there were a lot of bad feelings and disagreements.
    After the first month or so it settled down and it hasn't appeared
    to be a problem for anyone.
    
    In the Irvine, California facilities the buildings are completely
    non-smoking due to a city ordinance and not a Digital one.  Folks
    there just go outside to puff and it hasn't been a problem there
    as far as I know.  Probably would be though if it weren't nice all
    year round out here! 8^)
    
    Donna  (non-smoker who loves the new policy)

    I worked in LTN and their smoking room was set up like a living
    room, it was great, comfortable chairs, coffee tables, etc. I met
    some of the nicest people in there and had some of the greatest
    conversation !!
    
    I now work in GSO and they have a number of designated smoking areas.
    They're set up more like break areas. Some of them have machines,
    etc. and people can eat their lunch in there if they want.
    
    All in all, I think it's working out pretty well. Most of us are
    mature adults who understand what's expected of us, and don't abuse
    it. The only problem I see is with people who don't utilize the
    room having a problem with people who do. First, smoking around some
    people was a problem, now it's that they do it somewhere else that's
    the problem... What's the world coming to ?
    
    

re.0
	I'll try to do this without the flames.....even though I smoke.
	I'm getting a little tired of the smoker vs non-smoker stuff...
	I have no problem with the policy unless you try to make it one.

	This policy is EXTREMELY descriminatory. You've got the DSA's...
	don't start nitpicking about the time that's spent there unless
	you want EVERYONE's time accounted for EVERYDAY! Think about it.

	Denny
	
	

	
	

       In CXO we've had DSA's over a year now. It's a city ordinance. I
       like it much better than before. There were some days I'd sit at
       my desk with tears running down my face from the smoke in the
       air. Soft contact lenses absorb this stuff and your eyes feel
       terrible.

       My only comment about the rooms themselves is that I don't see
       how they can sustain oxygen breathing life. One day I walked past
       one after someone had been standing in the door (with it open)
       and the smoke and smell in the hall was unbelievable. I'm really
       glad I can breathe at my own desk again. liesl

    I can't waite for Jan 1. The people in my area have totally ignored
    the smoking policy in conference rooms at meetings. They already
    stated that they'll ignore the DSA rule come Jan 1. What's  the
    rest of us suppose to do ? If you complain, your an SOB, and the
    work relationship goes down the tube. What will be the punishment
    if any ?
    
    Jim

    We were told unoffially that refusal to abide by the no smoking
    rules after being warned was a termination offense. I have no
    idea if this is true or not.
    
    Bonnie

    I agree with .4 regarding the issue of time spent.  We non-smokers
    are not 100% efficient, so there is no reason to assess the time
    spent in a DSA. 
    

    Related notes file pointer JOET::NO_SMOKING

    Actually I've never read either conference before I gave the pointer
    from memory having seen it some time back. Sorry.

    I would prefer to see the discussion here concentrate on personal
    relationships related to smoking and not about the smoking policy
    itself which, as has been stated, is adequately covered in other
    conferences.
    				Steve

    
    re: .0
    
    To answer your question about not being allowed to bring food into
    the DSA, maybe you could bring some work.
    
    When ZK3 opened up, ZK3-3 was automatically a non-smoking floor.
    This was decided upon by the Cost Center Managers of the groups
    who reside on this floor. 
    
    We have _one_ smoker in this group.  Whenever he feels that desire
    for a cigarette, he leaves the office area with work in his hands.
    So, he really isn't getting all those _extra_ breaks.  And, neither
    would anyone else if they thought to take some work along with them.
    
    Sign Me "A Reformed Smoker"
    Beckie    

    
    As an ex-smoker I can understand how difficult it must be for all
    of the smokers.  To quit smoking is NOT easy.  I quit many times
    before I finally succeeded.  I can now say positively that I am
    a NON- SMOKER.
    
    I quit because I am not stupid.  Smoking is NOT healthy.  I enjoyed
    smoking and I enjoy not smoking even more.  Life is important to
    me and very enjoyable.  I want to be around to experience it at
    its fullest with my loved ones.
    
    Smoking STINKS....  I don't care how you may hate to hear that but
    it really does.  Peole who smoke smell... their hair, cloths, breath,
    car, house, office.  I can walk by someone on the street and know
    that they are a smoker.  
    
    If I were out there looking for someone to date I would most likely
    not want to go out with a smoker.  Because I would not want to put
    myself in any environment that might tempt me but also I would want
    someone that cared about themself.  Someone that could keep up with
    me dancing, mountain climbing, biking, or even climbing stairs.
    
    The smoking rooms here at ACO are awful places.  They smell and
    I think the ventilation is poor.  I know that it is becoming a
    good place to learn things.  People are brought together that would
    not usually be and relationships are developing.  It reminds me
    of the old MENs ROOM conversation.  Lots of issues are being discussed
    that us non-smokers are not privy too.  So the smoking room is not
    all that bad to you folks, as I see it anyway.
    
    And to all of you soon to quit folks.  Good luck.  It is worth it.
    
    Suzanne      
    

>>    Smoking STINKS....  I don't care how you may hate to hear that but
>>    it really does.  Peole who smoke smell... their hair, cloths, breath,
>>    car, house, office.  I can walk by someone on the street and know
>>    that they are a smoker.  


I can tell when someone a few cars in front of me on the highway lights up.  You
can actually smell it.  It's incredible.  (of course this is in the warmer
weather) 

    THAT'S RIDICULOUS !! IT'S PSYCHOLOGICAL. CAN YOU SMELL A GRANOLA
    BAR WHEN SOMEONE 2 CARS AHEAD OF YOU OPENS THE PACKAGE ? IT JUST
    BOTHERS YOU TO EVEN "SEE" SOMEONE SMOKE....

    RE:.16
    
    Not so ridiculous.  If the smoker has his or her window open the
    smoke can travel into the air intake of the car that is following.
    
    Personally:  I use to not let smoking bother me.  But there is so
    little quiet, so little privacy, so little clean air, so little
    left that doesn't effect my senses detrimentally, that being in
    the same room with someone who is smoking, or eating near someone
    who is smoking is becoming as offensive as walking along a quiet
    road and hearing dirt bikes plough up the country side, or someone
    with a boon box blow your few remaining senses away.
    
    But will this be the wave of the future?  More teenagers are smoking
    forever. In ten years it the DSAs may be where non-smokers will
    have to go to get fresh air!
    
    
    GRG

    re: .16
    
    It's neither ridiculous nor psychological.  I (an ex-smoker)
    can easily smell cigarette smoke in cars ahead of me, even
    if I  can't see the smoke.
    
    Steve
    
    P.S.  You don't really have to SHOUT. . .
    

    in re smelling smoke
    
    I can also smell smoke from cars around me in the summer weather.
    
    Bonnie

Thank you last few re:s.

RE:.16
You don't even know me so how can you claim that "IT JUST BOTHERS YOU TO EVEN
"SEE" SOMEONE SMOKE.... " applies to me.  You sound a little defensive.  Can you
smell wood buring in a wood burning stove when you drive by a house that is 
using their wood burning stove?  I would expect that you could and I wouldn't
expect the owners, when told this, to reply with "IT JUST BOTHERS YOU TO EVEN
"SEE" SOMEONE USE A WOOD BURNING STOVE.... " 

As to the Granola comment, I'm sure I would smell the Granola bar if you lit it
on fire.  Burning things are easier to smell than other things.  Just ask my
husband when I've had a 'bad day' in the kitchen.  8^)

    I agree with the last few notes.  You CAN smell smoke several cars
    away on summer days.  This past summer some kids were hiding under
    my back porch smoking cigarettes, I was in the house on the second 
    floor and when I went out to chase them away, they asked how I knew
    they were there.  Very simple.  Also, I just took my car into the
    mechanic to be fixed.  In spite of all the NO smoking signs I have
    all over the inside of my car, someone did, 'cause I could smell
    cigarette smoke for a week after.  I don't just complain about the
    smell for the heck of it.  It actually makes me ill.
      

    re. 20  I'm sorry to jump on you, I have been feeling very defensive
            about the smoking issue lately. I guess that's my problem
            and I don't have to take it out on everyone else. I apologize.
    

    re: .22
    
    All credit to you for a public apology - never an easy thing to
    do.  And I'd add, again as an ex-smoker, that I don't think the 
    problem is *only* yours.  My experience is that we all have
    mannerisms, habits, or whatnot that others with different 
    points of view find irritating.  As the saying goes, it takes
    two to tango (or make war or peace); seems to me that DEC, in
    going the DSR, route has declared that tolerance is the order of
    the day.
    
    Steve
    

    RE: .22
    
         In agreement with .23, I congratulate you for having the maturity
    and depth of character to write that reply.  You have the kind of
    demeanor which everyone who discusses the smoking issue (or any
    sensitive issue) should have.
    
                                    Greg

    	RE:  .22
    
    	Agree with what others have said.  Thank you.
    
    	Also want to mention that you aren't the only one who tells
    	folks that their illness in the presence of smoke is psycholo-
    	gical, and I want to assure you that physical reactions to
    	smoke are very real (and can happen even when you can't see
    	the smoke and are mentally convinced that no one is smoking.)
    
    	Before we had the no-smoking ordinance where I work/live, there
    	was a smoker over the wall from me who worked different hours
    	that overlapped with my shift by three hours.  I could always
    	tell when he arrived at work because I would start to feel
    	extremely nauseous from his smoke (even though I couldn't hear
    	him or even smell his smoke.)
    
    	He was the most polite smoker I've ever seen (and had every
    	gadget available to help with his smoke:  special fans to blow
    	the smoke away from the wall he shared with me, smokeless
    	ashtrays, etc.)  Those devices kept me from actually *smelling*
    	the smoke, but I ended up feeling nauseous just the same.
    
    	People started telling me that it was psychological.  Then,
    	the no-smoking ordinance started.  On the very first day of
    	the ordinance, I remember being firmly convinced that I would
    	*not* feel nauseous (and being excited about it.)  Yet -- at
    	the appointed hour, nausea flooded over me (and I couldn't
    	believe it!)  Soon it got worse and worse (while I was completely
    	convinced that no one in my building was smoking,) so I walked
    	around the partition to see the man's cubicle.
    
    	It turned out that he had forgotten about the ordinance and
    	was smoking.  My nauseous reaction happened even though my
    	mind was convinced that no one was smoking (and I couldn't smell
    	it.)
    
    	The next day, no nausea.  (He remembered about the ordinance.)
    
    	I know it must be very upsetting to hear people talk about how
    	sick they get from other people's smoke, but honestly and truly,
    	some people are amazingly sensitive to it (even when they can't
    	see the smoker, the smoke or consciously smell it.)  
    
    	It's not just a matter of not wanting to see people smoke. 
    	If there were a way to contain the smoke around the smoker's
    	head (without having any of it get into my lungs,) I could
    	watch people smoke all day.
    
    	Best wishes and thanks again for your thoughtfulness to other
    	noters.

    
    re: .25: I fully agree with you that the symptoms a non-smoker
             experiences when they are exposed to smoke, are NOT
             psychological!
    
             For 4 months last fall, I was transferred to a DEC
             facility with limited office space. I took the only office
             available, which by bad luck, was situated in a "smokers
             corner" where 5 or 6 heavy smokers had been moved in an
             attempt by their boss to segregate smokers & non-smokers.
             They were free to puff away all day, and since it was
             physically a corner, the smoke had nowhere to dissipate.
    
             I am an ex-smoker (once did a pack a day, quit as a teenager)
             and now I'm extremely sesnitive to smoke. I wear contacts
             and the smoke makes them dry out. My eyes would burn all
             day, and I would become physically nauseated by the smoke
             around me to the point that *I* had to leave my office
             every 40 minutes or so, to clear my lungs and rid myself
             of the nausea.  My clothes, hair, and coat would reek of
             smoke  when I went home at night (the only way to get rid
             of it was to shower, and have the clothes dry-cleaned)!
    
             After I left this bulilding (my group moved), I got a new
             office in a brand new building.  I almost died when I found
             out that my new office was directly across from the only
              "designated smoking room" in the building!  But I have
             to be fair, and admit that the rooms are excellently
             ventilated (at least in this modern bldg. where it was
             designed that way). I have only had a problem twice, in
             the summer, when the ventilating fans went out due to
             power failures in summer storms.  Aside from that, they
             seem to be a good place for smokers to congregate and meet
             others, etc.
    
             Many thanks to whoever passed the new policy!
    

    A personal recollection:
    
    My first year at Cranwell Prep School in Lenox, MA, I roomed with
    Pat Reynolds.  He and I never really got along real well, mostly
    because of his family status.  My naivite blocked my understanding
    of who he was and where I was. 
    
    Twenty-five years later I hear his message to give up smoking, I
    get a little sensitive.  I met his father and mother and most of
    his family.  Maybe the Jesuits had a positive impact on our education
    anyhow.  How else would the heir to the RJ Reynolds empire bite
    the hand that fed and educated him?  To lose 1/2 of your immediate
    family because of smoking seems kind of severe.  
    
    But does it take that much?   Is it like everything else in our
    society --- do we need to have it happen to us before we do something?
    How much control do we really claim to have over our lives when
    tobacco companies can pollute our lungs and make a living from it? 
    
    
    GRG

    
    .0
    	'scuse me, but, that "policy" is not world wide.  It is only
    for US facilities.
    
    

    
    My group just moved into a new facility in Westford, MA and
    we have a no smoking policy.  Except for the smoking room.
    
    Personally I love it.  I am very allergic to cigarette/cigar, etc
    smoke.  And having contacts didn't make the situation any easier.
    I find it much easier to breathe without the smoke in the air.
    
    I think it's also helpful to the smokers (although they won't
    admit it) because it makes them cut down.  The people I work
    with are my friends and if a no smoking policy helps their
    health as well as mine....I'm all for it!!
    
    JJ