Off-topic: Smoking on the Job

A few weeks ago, I read a very intriguing article by Joel Stein entitled, "The Secret Cult of Office Smokers." I've been meaning to write about it since, but haven't found a good way to introduce it into my blog--hence, my first "off-topic" post. I've written plenty about how smoke-free initiatives are combating secondhand smoke, but have not yet written about smoking in the workplace (though many state laws include the workplace in their indoor bans). In this context, I'd like to consider other byproducts of smoking: social stratification, decreased productivity, and general fairness.

Despite his preconception that smoking is no longer the "cool" thing to do, Stein describes how the smokers we see at work are just like the "cool" kids in high school:

"...smokers are precisely the type of people who thrive on being ostracized and banished. These aren't the ex-football players and class presidents who fought for your approval. These are the brooding loners, the ones who...start smoking not because they want to look cool but because it goes along with all their other self-destructive, class-cutting, early-sex, authority-flouting coolness. These are people who willingly put fire in their mouths. So that little area in front of the building that looks so lame from afar is actually the high school bathroom of the Information Age. Around the country all the cool engineers, accountants, and salespeople skip out of work, duck their boss, gather outside the building, gossip, and—though I could not confirm this—make fun of me." --Joel Stein

I can attest to this. Stein mentions that about 20.6% of Americans smoke today, but the percentage was certainly higher at the grocery store I clerked for during high school. Small groups of my co-workers would often gather behind the store for smoking breaks, talking amongst each other while I crushed and baled boxes. To them, I was the innocent, "straight edge" kid who worked too hard. But to me, they were the lazy smokers who didn't work hard enough. Our quick and mutual judgments of each other undoubtedly prevented any kind of meaningful social interaction. Nevertheless, I was the one who had the problem with them. As I worked and they smoked, all I could ask myself was, "Why should they get extra breaks to smoke, and why should I have to pick up their slack?"

My theory is that the American workplace, in general, treats smokers as if they are handicapped. Some will surely take offense to this notion, but logically speaking, a nicotine addiction nearly disables its victims from changing their lifestyles, thereby classifying them into a category of employees who need extra accommodation. Because there are so many nicotine addicts, and because employers cannot legally discriminate during hiring processes, employers are forced to allow smoking breaks. Not only does this put time constraints on smokers' productivity (though some may argue that smoking breaks promote efficiency upon return), but it gives employees who are eager to go home or socialize a good excuse to take a break. In other words, smoking breaks promote more smoking. And, quite frankly, they leave some non-smoking workers feeling like they are being treated unfairly.

In my perfect world, smoking breaks wouldn't exist. So for now, I'll just have to embrace a couple positive things about them: They instill a sense of camaraderie among smokers who would otherwise not have the opportunity to know each other. Likewise, they promote networking and can potentially lead to smokers' faster promotion...But how is that fair for those of us who aren't "cool"?