We did it!.. my building just moved smokers BACK outside

I guess we bugged them enough... they moved them out of the garage :)


Needless to say it stinks like an ashtray already and I'm not looking forward to smelling my car.

The building management got complaints about people congregating in front of the main entrance smoking. So they came up with the brilliant idea to move them into an enclosed garage.

So far just about every non-smoker in my office has emailed the office management complaining. I left a message with the local fire marshall to see if it's legal. I also told the building management that I would charge them to clean my car ;)

Can anybody else think of something else I can do short of wearing a gas mask when it's time to go home?

:mad:

Loading dock? Where I work we have a back area where we smoke.

Not sure why they didn't choose those

Sorry for the attitude, but I get tired of "smoke Nazis". (No, I don't smoke).

there's no reason why they can't go to a door that's not widely used like the two I mentioned above.

I had no idea the can of worms my OP would open.

Look at it this way... if somebody had horrible smelly gas in your office and it was so bad your clothes smelled of it by the end of the day wouldn't you want to say something?

Not the greatest analogy but it's definitely better than comparing smokers to making black people sit at the back of a bus.

someone call the waaaaaaambulance

surely there are more important issues.

to non-smokers it's important

...and I'd prefer firing squads ;)

The OP has to deal with this directly everyday, so it is important to that person. He/she is asking advice. I'm not sure how this distracts.

I'm horribly allergic to cigarette smoke, so I can sympathize (I wouldn't be able to park in your garage at all)! Maybe a lounge of their own would be a good compromise?

has a smoker's lounge with huge fans in it. You can't smell the smoke at all until you are well inside the lounge.

So I think the smokers can be accomodated without the smoke bothering everyone else.

It was about 20 feet wide by 5 feet deep, with a bench inside. It was plexiglass encased.

To see those people enclosed like that was like a sad exhibit at a zoo.

I only smelled smoke when I passed by the doors-15 feet away I didn't smell it at all. There are some great new air filters that can cope with cigarette smoke, too (like the Airsource air purifier). My face swells up and I start throwing up if I'm exposed to cigarette smoke for more than a few minutes, so I'm always aware of where the smokers are.

at the airport in St. Louis. I know there is no smoking allowed at the Ft. Lauderdale airport, not even outside.

an ionizer/air purifier in your car might also come in handy. My husband is a smoker, and that helps me a lot.

assault with a deadly weapon.

can't the people just lock their car doors....

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Cars are not airtight. Depending on how large/small Oreo's garage is, smoke can and will get in the car, and lodge inside the fabric. And stink.

See my post #19 about setting the climate control to recirc.

Egads!

You smell like smoke so of course you can't smell it.

I bet you think you smell like a fresh spring breeze after you light up.

your car, closed and windows up, is parked in a garage where people smoke

and you believe that your car will need to be cleaned because people smoke outside of it?

I hate smoking, but arent' you overreacting a little? It will stink getting to your car, but the outside of your car is subjected to all sorts of nasty stuff anyway.

I just don't get it....people are willing to trudge through a garage, where cars sit and idle in the morning, spewing thousands of cubic feet of petrochemical carcinogens through 2 inch exhaust pipes. Yet they cry for a gas mask anytime someone lights a 1/4 inch tube of burning vegetation and paper. Somebody call the cops!.....but make sure you make those residents push those cars in and out of those parking spaces ....The exhaust should be the real worry....

Cars don't run all day, they come and they go. Smokers, however, often cycle in and out for their 5 minute smoke breaks and toss their nasty shit not in the shitcan, but next to it, and that stink accumulates.

Apples and oranges.

that stink accumulates

the car exhaust is just air freshener that provides that distinct garage smell and that neato garage ambiance.

I'm glad the OP complained though , at least the smokers are back outside and are no longer required to choke on his burnt gasolone fumes any longer.

you said that much more tactfully than I would have.

:)

breathe deeply, now:)

http://www.ucsusa.org/assets/animation/toxicair_lung.swf

I think it's ridiculous to make people go outside to have a cigarette on their break. My college didn't allow smoking anywhere on campus but they had a smoking lounge in each dorm behind closed doors. Needless to say these were the most popular places in the dorms, for card games, board games and general relaxation. Today with smoke eaters, no one would even be aware of the smell of tobacco outside of the lounges.

I would have to park someplace else.

:shrug:

. . .as one who peer reviewed the statistics of the CDC's 2nd hand smoke study in 1993, i can guarantee that cigarette smoke is listed as a Class III irritant. No IDLH (immediately dangerous to life and health), and no cumulative toxicity, and absolutely no statistically significant link to cancer or mutagenic disorder.

But, for people who already have respiratory disorders (asthma, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and even severe sinusitis), a Class III irritant can trigger some nasty effects.

But, we're really agreeing here. There's a difference between nuisance odors or irritants and toxic vapors or particulates. Cigarette smoke does not, scientifically, meet the standards of the latter.
The Professor

I would also expect people with such sensitivities to first and foremost be personally prepared for a wide range of commonly present irritants. I've had close friends with severe asthma and I, myself, have had chronic sinusitis for nearly forty years (particularly since Nam). I have yet to notice any soaring sales of HEPA face masks.

If you notice anything, let me know. We'll invest in the dust mask companies!
The Professor

where people smoke.

The "deathly allergic to cigarette smoke", in my experience, are able to turn off their "allergy" at will.

edited to add: the ones who actually do have symptoms of such have also been carriers of aspirators. They are asthmatic, which is very different and very real.

I have asthma and cigarette smoke triggers an attack almost instantly, it also gives me headaches.

I'm talking about the people who use an "allergy to cigarette smoke" as a convenient excuse.

Cigarette smoke could easily trigger an asthma attack, but that's a legitimate reaction. Simply "not liking it", it seems, makes a lot of people claim they have an "allergy".

about the time she thought my dad should quit.

I vomit. When I go to Paris I wear a face mask and carry a hand held air purifier with me at all times because so many people there smoke, and my body can't handle it. There are many of us out there with serious allergies to cigarette smoke.

You think your allergic, and you've convinced yourself that your allergic, but you are most certainly not. It is a medical impossibility.

I really hate this new thing whereby people claim to be allergic to shit they just don't like. Give it up.

That closes off the outside air intakes.

You are going to get far more nasty stuff from the interior of your car than you will ever get from walking past some smokers.

All that plastic, paint, insulation, sound deadener and synthetic fabrics out-gas constantly. That's what that slime is on the inside of your windows. That's what that new-car smell is that everyone loves.

On top of that, a parking structure is probably better ventilated than the outdoors half the time.

And unless you have a habit of parking your car with the ventilation system on--which of course would require leaving the engine running--the smoke isn't going to go inside the car.

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What really amazes me are the people who can inhale the exhaust of a thousand automobiles, buses, trucks, and motorcycles with virtual impunity, but will apparently DIE from the second-hand smoke of a single cigarette!

Sigh.

Bake

who "sits at the back of the bus". It was colored people, now it's smokers. After smokers, who is next? People who chew their fingernails?

They should go back to where they came from!

after Labor Day. :rofl:

people smoking to an entire race that was enslaved and then denied basic human rights for hundreds of years?

I just wanna be clear here...?

:shrug:

The poster said colored people. I think they might be speaking about the purple people civil rights movement. :sarcasm:

Well, I guess some people get upset when they get someone eles's sperm in thier hair.

I don't know why.

:shrug: After all, taking responsibility for your own sensitivities might be a good first step. Go for it.

That's all.

damn smoke nazis!
They are EVERYWHERE!

Smoke-free zones extend outdoors
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-11-01-smoke-free-zones_x.htm

smokers.

smokers.

Private property. Self-Determination.

When people push the envelope on what constitutes a harm by others, they open the door for all kinds of government intervention on private citizens:

Gay relationships cheapen MY marriage
Pornography demans MY spouse
Inexpensive housing devalues MY property

Why not practice a little tolerance, and avoid places they don't like.

Separate indoor and outdoor smoking lounges

Separate and Exclusive smoking breaks

Did you get hired to fight fires, or to stand outside and fill your lungs with smoke?

Actually I don't have much of a problem with employers telling their employees not to smoke on company time, or even on company property.

But, when it's your break, it's YOUR time. Do what you want. Try to accomodate everyone.

I think that smoking's negatives far outweight it's positives, but I still leave it up to each to make their own determination.

confirmation of this. My brother, sister, and I used to smoke, and when we visited our Mom's house, we were banished to the garage to smoke. Mom kept her car in the garage (it's a two-car garage, btw). We smoked about five feet from her car, and it NEVER smelled.

You know how I know this? My mother loathes cigarette smoke, it makes her terribly sick to be around it. In fact, I'd put her "cigarette allergies" up against anyone's in terms of sensitivity. If it had permeated her car, she would have kicked our asses out of her garage in a New York minute. So no, your car will not stink.

people with "cigarette allergies", I have observed time and time again, always seem to be able to tolerate it when they appear to have no choice in the matter- for example, when going to a bar or some such.

No symptoms ever manifest. Except for a "yuk" face. Amazing, that.

It's when they are around individual smokers that their "allergy" manifests itself. I personally observe this to be a purely psychological phenomenon. For example, a former roommate of mine was "allergic" to cigarette smoke- which, amazingly, translated to "I don't like it but will tolerate it" when:

dating
going to a bar
going to a restaurant
riding in my car.

I conclude there is no real "cigarette allergy".

Now, they've complained about them being in the garage, so the company moved them BACK OUTSIDE!!!

The building management got complaints about people congregating in front of the main entrance smoking. So they came up with the brilliant idea to move them into an enclosed garage.

Was it the same people complaining about where they got moved to next? Would they rather those people just not smoke anywhere? Is it possible to move to a building or complex that bans all smokers?

I'd love to find places that banned all people from wearing perfume/cologne, personally

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I personally stay away from the main entrance because of the smokers. Can't really stay away from my car.

Nice to see I touched such a nerve with you greenie

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So we have a bunch of stinky smokers who can't cover up their stench with anything ;)

I'm thinking they should open the roof.. they can smoke all they want up there.

that simply doesn't hire smokers and fires anyone who starts.

Do you support that?

While it probably saves them a bunch of money on health insurance I don't agree.

My problem is I don't feel like I should have to smell like I've been in a bar (outside of Minneapolis). Minneapolis has no-smoking in their bars now so I guess a couple other people agree with me.

Those drunks always ruin my good time. Then we can ban the meat eaters from the cafeteria. They always make me to sick to eat my vegetables.

{/severe sarcasm}

I'm not a smoker, never have been, but I see this whole anti-smoking crusade a little too much like the prohibition days of old.

people go to work to WORK, not to smoke or to breathe the smoke from other people's cigarettes.

I am sick of this "banning drinking from bars" analogy. It isn't even a close comparison.

Wouldn't want to get a speck of pollutant inside your beautiful lungs when you drive your stinking automobile all over town.

Honestly, people like you... :grr:

Man, that's harsh.

The best proof that cigarettes are addictive is when you see people outside my building smoking when it's 20 below.

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That way we can move cell phone talkers to an area outside where they can talk as loud as they want about their banal trivial pointless lives that apparently is too important to themselves to wait until they get home to talk about.

Making tobacco products illegal unless taxed. Then make sure the feds never allow a tax to be collected. This effectively makes tobacco illegal and there won't by anymore people smoking to bother you.

Of course you will have to contend with the black market crime the new prohibition creates.

You will have to dodge drive by shootings over tobacco turf wars.

Prisons costs to jail tobacco law breakers will skyrocket and you will enjoy paying those increased taxes.

Since this is your REAL goal, to control other people, you will of course be happy when YOUR habit is made illegal....RIGHT?

When they came for the heroin users, then they came for the cocaine users, then they came for the marijuana users, then they came for th tobacco users, and no one spoke up because they weren't me.... now they are coming for me and there is no one left to stand up for me.

:yourock:

Shit... I take everything back. Sorry!

Smoker's Rights!
Smoker's Rights!
Don't let the man take away your butt!

to anyone for my smoking. I smoke outside at work and anyone who doesn't like it can just fuck off and go somewhere else. Is that harsh? I don't care. It's a personal choice and anyone who feels free to interefere deserves a little verbal abuse.

:toast: :smoke:

smokers must be at least 10 feet away from any entrance. why couldn't these folks have done this??

They're now making people stay 25 feet from the main entrance.

The entire controversy in my building began and ended quicker than this thread

ATTENTION ALL TENANTS

Our original decision to move the smoking area to the parking garage was based on the ongoing complaints that we receive from tenants and visitors to the building that are forced to walk past individuals and groups of smokers just to enter the building. In an attempt to address the problem temporarily until a permanent solution can be found we made the decision to create a smoking area in the parking garage.

While the move to the garage was intended to be only temporary we have since received numerous negative emails and calls from tenants that utilize the parking garage. We now realize this may not have been the best decision and consequently have made the decision to remove the smoking area from the garage.

Effective immediately the ashtrays will be moved back to the front of the building next to the front railing. At the front entrance to the building we will be installing signs that state “no smoking within 25 feet of the building”. At the same time we are appealing to the smokers and asking them to please be considerate of their fellow employees and other tenants and visitors to the building and to please smoke away from the front entrance.

We will continue to explore our other options for dealing with the smoking situation and hope to come up with a long-term solution that will please all of our tenants and visitors.

We appreciate your cooperation in this matter.

Thank you.

I can relate to the having to walk through a cloud of ciggy smoke to get into buildings.. I hate that! But putting them in a garage... that was really brilliant. Not. Hope the mgmt. can figure something out.

We used to have smokers hangs out in front of the main entrance and I sure enough complained but nothing was done at first until some men bitched about it.