Darth Wong wrote:Since smokers believe they have the "right" to take 5-10 minute breaks during the workday whenever they feel the urge to light one up, should nonsmokers be allowed to take 5-10 minute breaks during the workday whenever they feel the urge to masturbate to Internet porn?
Yes, they should.
OTOH, over here I dunno about smokers only take their breaks when there are actual brakes.
At my work place it is:
09:30-10:00
12:00-12:30 (Lunch)
14:00-14:30
Anyone smoking does it during those times.
Those who beat their swords into plowshares will plow for those who did not.
Darth Wong wrote:Since smokers believe they have the "right" to take 5-10 minute breaks during the workday whenever they feel the urge to light one up, should nonsmokers be allowed to take 5-10 minute breaks during the workday whenever they feel the urge to masturbate to Internet porn?
Yes, they should.
OTOH, over here I dunno about smokers only take their breaks when there are actual brakes.
At my work place it is:
09:30-10:00
12:00-12:30 (Lunch)
14:00-14:30
Anyone smoking does it during those times.
Assuming you start work at 9AM, what kind of wacky workplace has a designated half hour break half an hour after you started!
Well, when I used to be a smoker, it really wasn't a big deal to take a smoke break whenever I felt like it. I was working as a magazine editor at the time and although our editor was a non-smoker, three of the seven team editorial staff were and since we didn't need to be at our desks to work some of the time (reading copy, editing) whenever these times would pop up we'd take our printouts outside and light up.
As long as we got our work in on time and it was good, the boss usually didn't give two-shits what we were doing with our time. Of course at that particular job I was on the video games beat most of the time, so I spent about half of the workday "reviewing" PC games, so I actually felt a lot more guilty doing actual work than taking smoke breaks
Durandal wrote:Again, it depends on the job. If you're talking about a tech support environment, then absolutely. The call queue shouldn't get clogged because someone had to step outside for a smoke. But if you have a position in which your responsibilities aren't shared, then it's not really a big issue.
Oh yes it is, because it's a rare environment indeed when one employee's responsibilities are completely segregated from another's. I've had to field questions directed at absent coworkers on many an occasion, for the simple reason that somebody on the shop floor needed answers now, the company was losing money for every minute that the machine sat idle, and you can't look somebody in the eye under those circumstances and say "not my problem".
I'm not familiar with your job (I'm guessing that it has something to do with mechanical engineering ), but I'm talking about jobs like software development and similar Dilbert-style jobs. It's true that very few jobs completely segregate responsibility, but if you're a developer, and you need to get a certain part of an app done by a certain time, it doesn't really matter how many smoke breaks you take as long as you deliver a working product by the deadline.
Damien Sorresso
"Ever see what them computa bitchez do to numbas? It ain't natural. Numbas ain't supposed to be code, they supposed to quantify shit."
- The Onion
Durandal wrote:I'm not familiar with your job (I'm guessing that it has something to do with mechanical engineering ), but I'm talking about jobs like software development and similar Dilbert-style jobs. It's true that very few jobs completely segregate responsibility, but if you're a developer, and you need to get a certain part of an app done by a certain time, it doesn't really matter how many smoke breaks you take as long as you deliver a working product by the deadline.
So what you're saying is that smokers are at best equal to nonsmokers, and at worst a drain on productivity with special privileges that create resentment and extra workload among coworkers, depending on which type of job it is. Precisely what point were you hoping to make?
"It's not evil for God to do it. Or for someone to do it at God's command."- Jonathan Boyd on baby-killing
"you guys are fascinated with the use of those "rules of logic" to the extent that you don't really want to discussus anything."- GC
"I do not believe Russian Roulette is a stupid act" - Embracer of Darkness
"Viagra commercials appear to save lives" - tharkûn on US health care.
Going back to the OT, I think all workers have the right to short breaks throughout the day. I for one am more productive when I can take breaks from work to check this site etc, because I fall asleep when I'm bored.
But I still think I spend less time doing that than a smoker spends going in and out of the building, and I'm always at my phone/email.
"I fight with love, and I laugh with rage, you gotta live light enough to see the humour and long enough to see some change" - Ani DiFranco, Pick Yer Nose
"Life 's not a song, life isn't bliss, life is just this: it's living." - Spike, Once More with Feeling
Darth Wong wrote:So what you're saying is that smokers are at best equal to nonsmokers, and at worst a drain on productivity with special privileges that create resentment and extra workload among coworkers, depending on which type of job it is. Precisely what point were you hoping to make?
The point I told you that I was trying to make: that your original post doesn't apply to all jobs.
Damien Sorresso
"Ever see what them computa bitchez do to numbas? It ain't natural. Numbas ain't supposed to be code, they supposed to quantify shit."
- The Onion
