Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Something that has always bothered me is that my company will bend over backwards to give smokers an almost hourly smoke break (God knows, we wouldn't want to upset the smokers!) The average cigarette lasts about 5 to 7 minutes. The walk time to the designated smoking room is 2 to 3 minutes; the walk back is the same, unless the smoker walks by the water cooler or coffee pot; then add 3 more minutes. It works out to about 15 minutes per hour. HOWEVER, let a non-smoker head for the break room to just sit or read a magazine for 15 minutes every hour and you'd be considered a slacker. I have nothing against smokers - really, that's not the issue. It's the inequity based on one group's addiction. BUT, while I'm on the subject, one smoker in our office always times his breaks about 5 minutes before the supervisor's. When the supervisor arrives at the smoking lounge, my fellow employee fires up cigarette #2 and makes up some bullshit topic to discuss with the boss -- AND, if the boss lights a second one, my coworker will light a third. So, he spends about three hours huffing and puffing every day - I'm sure it's productive smoking, though. HA! HA!