LET'S KICK SOME BUTT!

On CNN today I saw a headline saying something about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “kicking butt” regarding smoking on the House floor.

I guess I was a little “floored” myself when, after reading the article, I learned that they still allowed smoking in the lobby of the Capitol. Isn’t it 2007? Don’t we have enough scientific/medical knowledge these days to know that smoking (and second-hand smoke) can be deadly? It’s one thing to smoke outside and keep that cancerous haze to yourself; it’s another to subject non-smokers in an enclosed space.

I guess you could say this kind of stuff "lights" me up. It probably goes back to my days when I was living in Key West (this was after Erin left). I had taken a job at a high-end resort as a Purchasing Manager (more or less I ordered a lot of T.P.). Anyway, I should have caught on when my interviewer (the Controller) smoked away as he interviewed me. Then, after accepting the job, the guy I was replacing smoked away as he trained me (on how to order such T.P.). I ended up going to said Controller (my boss who was as gay as gay can be) and told him that the smoke was getting to me (can I also say that 98% of the employees smoked – from the GM to the HR Director - so there was no refuge). His response you wait with bated breath? “Oh, everyone in KW smokes. There are two places where you can still smoke at your workplace in this country – KW and North Carolina.” I guess he said North Carolina b/c that is where his precious smokes came from.

Being young and meek (and just landing a good paying job), I politely went about my business and tried hard to deal with it. However, after months and months of going to meetings where everyone would smoke (I would leave such meetings with headaches), I was fed up! Those 2% of us who didn’t smoke would band together and talk about how much we hated it. This one girl who worked in reservations would sit in a smoke-filled room while she went about her work and all the while had asthma! Upon suggestion from the pastor of the church I attended (okay, you can get back on your chair now) he told me I should call the Florida Department of Health in Tallahassee.

When I called, I told the woman on the other end of the line my story. She asked me if I wanted to file a complaint. I said I did, but I wanted to remain anonymous. She said it was no problem (she also told me what they were doing was illegal). So, the next day, I come into work and there was a memo out to everyone saying that certain places in the resort were going to be segregated to smokers. I remember this one girl, a fellow non-smoker that I had complained with in the past, came over to me and said, “Can you believe this? Everyone is pretty sure Terry called (Terry was a vocal anti-smoker).” I didn't tell anyone it was me (poor Terry!). Unbelievably enough, what they (meaning upper management) did to get around this loss of privilege was to put up smoking signs in certain areas. My boss (bitch) slapped a "Smoking Allowed" sign on his door as did the GM, the HR Director, etc...!! What a joke!

Luckily soon thereafter the hotel sold to a new hotel ownership group. They came in with fervor replacing the GM and most of the management and brought with them not only new people, but, ironically, a breath of fresh air.