Friday, August 01, 2008

How about a nonsmoking break?

The bike rack is right next to the smoker's break area where I work (cough cough), and one thing I've noticed is that when you get past the smoke is that smokers are some of the nicest people you'll ever meet, right up there with firearms enthusiasts.

I have to wonder if nonsmokers might do well, socially speaking (and maybe also in things like evangelism) if we took a "nonsmoking break" mid-morning or mid-afternoon with some friends. I think I'll give it a try.

10 comments:

Orianna Laun said...

How will you explain it to your boss? :)

Bike Bubba said...

Maybe with "don't I need to step outside just as much as a smoker?"?

Eh, I'm salaried; as long as I get things done, I don't get into too much trouble. :^)

W.B. Picklesworth said...

You know, that's not a bad idea. At the very least it would help people to overcome the tendency to judge smokers as lesser people. Now that's a bad habit to have!

Gino said...

i'm a smoker.
have been all my life.

thanks for the prejudice.

btw: do you label fat people as undesirable and somehow disordered as well?

and ya know what? some of them alcoholics are pretty nice folks, as well.

W.B. Picklesworth said...

Gino, "thanks for the prejudice?" I'm not sure I follow. Wasn't BB saying just the opposite?

Bike Bubba said...

I'll be glad to prejudge smokers as nice people. As for the "fat people," well, I'm carrying a little bit of extra weight, and I can vouch for the fact that at least one overweight person (me) has a little bit of "dipstickism." :^)

(feel free to judge me along those lines, too, Gino) :^)

Actually, what I was getting at is that smokers have--really due to their ostracism by the "health police"--a wonderful opportunity to get to know people that the nonsmoking crowd does not.

So take a "nonsmoking" break, y'all. Reach out that way.

Gino said...

sorry, i read the tone as "my,my what a surprise. seems these smoking folks are human. i never knew that."

and yer right: we do get to know other people others may not. and at the plant, we also get the gossip an hour before everybody else,too.

Bike Bubba said...

Just an hour before the others? At ours, it's generally weeks before others.

Gino said...

thats because we are very sociable, and cant wait to inform the general populace about who just got walked out. LOL

Anonymous said...

A few years ago I started taking "non-smoking" breaks. I was friends with some of the smokers at my workplace, so I'd step outside with them and just stand upwind. The fresh air was nice and I enjoyed talking with them. And my justification was just that - non-smokers deserved just as many breaks as the smokers!