Posted on 03/18/2002 11:05:04 AM PST by Just another Joe
Norm LeBrun remembers the days when he could light up at his work station. Then came the new rule: no smoking anywhere but the smoking room.
That lasted for several years. Then the tiny room became too expensive to ventilate. Lebrun and anyone else who couldn’t go eight hours without a cigarette were forced out back.
Ever since, they have gathered here in the middle of a windy alley in downtown Lewiston.
Two, three, four times a day, no matter what the weather, they leave their offices and desks at a local financial-service company to satisfy their cravings for nicotine.
It happens every several feet in the alleyways behind Lisbon Street. Smokers come and go, huddling around ashtrays and buckets filled with sand.
Most of them don’t want their names used and they are reluctant to have their pictures taken. They insist that they are not ashamed of their addiction. But some admit that their spouses, children and parents don’t know about their habit or still believe they’ve quit.
Many have bosses who don’t mind their short absences. They get a certain amount of time each day, and they can split it up any way they like. One woman takes two 10-minute breaks, usually at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Her co-worker, a 27-year-old man who has been smoking since his early teens, takes his allotted 20 minutes in four five-minute intervals. That is what his habit – one and a half packs a day – requires.
Some don’t mind being pushed outside to smoke. “It gives me a chance to get outdoors in the fresh air,” says a 42-year-old telemarketer named Bill.
Others hate it. They are tired of being told when and where they can smoke. They’ve been banned from malls, restaurants, even their own homes. And they don’t think it is fair.
“I think there should be restaurants for nonsmokers and restaurants for smokers,” insists LeBrun.
A block away, Bill takes a drag, thinks for a second, and says, “They should make it illegal if it is that bad for you. Until then, they should just let us smoke.”
Despite the frustrations that come along with being part of a shrinking minority, local smokers say there is camaraderie in the dark, cold alleyways. People who work for maintenance get to meet people in the data-processing department. Salesmen chat with social workers.
They complain about work. They share weekend plans and vacation memories.
For 21-year-old Melissa Bolduc, who is too young to recall the days when smoking at work was as normal as drinking coffee, having 15 minutes a day to escape her cubicle at a local bank seems perfectly reasonable.
But she could do without the lectures that come when she returns.
That is the truth! And, have you noticed that in an establishment where there is a smoking and non-smoking section, the smoking section is populated with people who seem relaxed, cheerful, and sociable, while the non-smoking section is populated by people who look like they've been sucking on persimmons, and are really uptight. And it's not because they can smell the smoke from the smoking section, because they can't. I'll hang out with smokers, because they're more fun! To the nico-nazis, I say this: I may be a smoker, but you're ugly and I can quit.
Well, fatima, there's no accounting for taste, now, is there? (Just KIDDING, Ditter!!) It's difficult for me to "love" someone who is abusive, insulting, narrow-minded and would miss no chance to give up someone else's freedom. But that's just me.
Maybe a little of both. Depends on how you want to take it. :^)
Now, wait just a minute here.....this line is from a fella that was insistent that the players in this story take a committed, principled stand!!! LMBO! You so funny! What a way to start a new day! Regards.....
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