Speed Bump by Dave Coverly for July 21, 2010

Reminds me of K.P. Light ‘em up if you got ‘em.

Who isn’t addicted having 10 minute breaks?

Aren’t we all…………..

I can understand older people smoking… When they started nobody knew they were bad for you.

But what’s with younger people… who knew they could kill you. Why start ?

VEGAS I’m under 60 and I ask myself that all the time.

called coffin nails long before a surgeon general declared them dangerous. started ‘cause it was cool i guess.

I haven’t had a smoke in 11 years and counting. So far, no bad after-effects. Thank God.

Vegas, eating is bad for you. Everyone who has ever eaten in their lives has died or will die, but people do it anyway. Yes, smoking is bad for you, anyone who was born after 1955 has had that drilled into their heads but some folks get enjoyment out of smoking. Same thing with drinking alcohol, driving racecars, riding motorcycles without helmets, climbing mountains, skydiving, and who knows how many other things that break down to personal choice. I have never smoked other than trying it and discovering that I didn’t like it, but I don’t begrudge others who do like to smoke their vices. AIDS is largely a disease transmitted through actions which could be contolled by the people who are infected with HIV, but we spend more money searching for a cure than we do curtailing those activities. Why the difference? Because we don’t want to offend some folks but we don’t care about offending others? Hypocrisy at its finest.

The difference between eating and smoking is that eating in your office doesn’t generally expose everyone in the vicinity to potent carcinogens. I don’t think smoking should be made illegal, but framing it as a “personal choice”, when tens of thousands of Americans die annually from secondhand smoking, misses much of the issue.

The problem with programs aimed at preventing HIV transmission is that the ones that work best are consistently banned by religious conservatives.

Eating and sex are similar in that both are potentially lethal, and yet both are vital human activities with strong natural drives. That’s part of the reason why controlling the spread of HIV is difficult.

…. WHY work when you can be eliminated and retire COMFORTABLY on your TRUST FUND???

I worked in a non-smoking office 20 years ago. I remember once that our boss was having trouble deciding between two equally qualified candidates for an opening, so he asked us which one we would prefer. One smoked, one didn’t. Wasn’t a difficult decision for us, with all other factors being equal.

You all say smoking is addictive , I smoked two packs of smokes a day for thirty years and I wasn’t addicted ……..Just kidding, I did quit two years ago best decision I ever made!!!

Where I work, I take my 10 minute non-smoking breaks while the others smoke. I also note that the smokers are required to leave the building and head to a designated smoking area which is about 50 yards from the closest entrance into the building. This is typically the case in Federal buildings and State buildings in which I’ve worked or have transacted business in. Many other private businesses follow that same procedure. When the state of California can ban smoking by the driver of a truck in his truck because it is his workplace, don’t you think things have gone a bit too far? When a city bans smoking in outdoor seating of restaurants that are subject to exhaust fumes of vehicles passing within 15 feet of the patrons, don’t you think things have gone a bit too far? When any government entity decides for a business owner that the business owner cannot allow smoking in his establishment, don’t you think things have gone a bit too far? I do, and as I’ve said before, I am not, and have never been a smoker.

I agree with most of what you said MisngNOLA, except the restaurant thing. There is the issue of employees being required to work in a smokey environment. If the owner of the restaurant is also the only one working there, then the owner should be able to allow smoking.

Kids like to smoke cuz their parents don’t want them to and they think they will live forever. That’s why they drive fast,don’t where seatbelts or helmets with cycles etc.

I was also jealous of the smoking breaks so I would take 10 minute walks outside(and I still do!)

sgmoo, the restaurant thing I mentioned was outdoor seating (sidewalk seating in this case) which is subject to automobile and truck and bus exhaust fumes. Those are there even when the smokers are not. How can you differentiate and reject cigarette smoke while the other pollutants are there regardless?