# "Construction Workers" and Tobacco use



## steve-in-kville (Aug 30, 2006)

My mom in law is positive that all "construction workers" smoke or use smoke-less products. She wants to build an addition to her home and she insists that whatever company she gets does not smoke on her property. She is kinda the holy-roller type (nothing wrong with that), but she can get arrogant.

So I'm trying to prove to her that not every "construction worker" uses tobacco products... Feel free to vote, you can check all that apply on the poll.

steve


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## thom (Nov 3, 2006)

I'm sure that Jesus wouldn't hire any of them damn smokers either. He'd probably kick their asses just for thinking about it.


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## dirt diggler (May 14, 2006)

steve-in-kville said:


> My mom in law is positive that all "construction workers" smoke or use smoke-less products. She wants to build an addition to her home and she insists that whatever company she gets does not smoke on her property. She is kinda the holy-roller type (nothing wrong with that), but she can get arrogant.
> 
> So I'm trying to prove to her that not every "construction worker" uses tobacco products... Feel free to vote, you can check all that apply on the poll.
> 
> steve


good luck proving that to her:laughing:

im sure SOMEONE will light one up.


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## K2 (Jul 8, 2005)

We do work at the schools and the guys are not allowed to smoke on the property. No big deal. They take less cig breaks and are kinda proud that they only smoke 3 instead of 8 on a shift... I quit 1-1-80. If I can do it anyone can.


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## steve-in-kville (Aug 30, 2006)

I told her I would rather work with/around smokers (and isn't trying to hide it) than some guy who's molesting some poor kid. 

She didn't have a lot to say about that.

steve


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## POOLMANinCT (Oct 7, 2006)

mmmmmmmmm..... kodiak


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## dirt diggler (May 14, 2006)

steve-in-kville said:


> I told her I would rather work with/around smokers (and isn't trying to hide it) than some guy who's molesting some poor kid.
> 
> 
> 
> steve


huh?? wtf??:blink:


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## dougchips (Apr 23, 2006)

We do not allow smoking on our job sites. Dipping is ok so long as you swallow. She should be more concerned about drinking and where they go to the bathroom.

I've had a few clients request non-smoking installers, some people do not like the smell of the smoke on clothes. Currently none of my installers smoke.


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## steve-in-kville (Aug 30, 2006)

dirt diggler said:


> huh?? wtf??:blink:


Okay, in her eyes, smoking is a terrible sin. In my eyes, its someone's personal choice of a lifestyle or poor habit. 

I do no smoke myself and would not recommend anyone would start. I would rather work with someone that smokes than someone who is commiting some gross, evil deed like child molesting. Its a comparission I've used with her over the years. 

In other words, you are not hurting anyone else by smoking, so why should I care?

Make sense??

steve


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## GregS (Oct 1, 2006)

I hate working on rough-ins when there's another guy in the house smoking. I hate it. And usually it's the plumber or the electrician.


I just keep telling myself that I get to have a nice clean shower at the end of the day.. not that that will help my lungs.

When the drywall goes up the supers usually ban smoking inside the house.

Isn't it illegal to smoke at work? Isn't a jobsite work? Hrm..


What I hate more is seeing people smoke in their cars with their kids.


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## WNYcarpenter (Mar 2, 2007)

I don't know which is harder....getting the guys to be respectful with their smoking, or keeping them from cursing?


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## Joasis (Mar 28, 2006)

I just quit smoking...like 40 days ago, and I can't tell any difference in the way I feel. 

I have only one no tobacco rule: After a new home is drywalled, no smoking, and no skoal unless you swallow...no spit cups. 

For those of you who smoke and want to quit, Chantix does work....and I didn't really want to quit...but it was time....the stuff works, a prescription is required, but with a little will power, you will quit. Cigarettes taste nasty after a few days on the medication, and the only side effect is now i chew a lot of gum...my jaw aches...and I miss the pause in a job when I want to light up...but that is the habit, not the nicotine.....


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## K2 (Jul 8, 2005)

> I've had a few clients request non-smoking installers, some people do not like the smell of the smoke on clothes.


jeez. I'd find me some new clients. Sounds like my sister in law... I can think of some worse odors on window installers... Could have everyone come in in green hepi-suits.


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## steve-in-kville (Aug 30, 2006)

joasis said:


> ...and no skoal unless you swallow...no spit cups.


I'm just curious... why no spit cups? Most guys I've seen use an old ice-tea bottle and discard it at the end of the day. They kept it in their tool bucket or whatever they had.

Not trying to be contrary... honestly curious what your reasoning is for this.

steve


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## dougchips (Apr 23, 2006)

steve-in-kville said:


> I'm just curious... why no spit cups? Most guys I've seen use an old ice-tea bottle and discard it at the end of the day. They kept it in their tool bucket or whatever they had.
> 
> Not trying to be contrary... honestly curious what your reasoning is for this.
> 
> steve


They spill 

People can drink from them by mistake.....people as in not the person spitting in the cup.

They stink if they are not discarded.

Homeowners think it's nasty.

K2, since I do not have anyone that smokes we can honor the no smoking request. We are safe so long as they do not request "no gas".


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## stacker (Jan 31, 2006)

i am a smoker.if i am out there working i will be damned if someone is going to tell me i cant.:furious:i will not smoke in someone's house,that i am working in,even if they are a smoker also.when i am finished with a job,all cigarette butts and packs are picked up and disposed of.

building homes,what does having a shower at the end of work have to do with smoking while roughing in a house?while roughing in there is enough air flow,that smoke isnt going to effect your clothes or your friggin lungs.unless that plumber is blowing smoke all over you,and if it effects you that much i have a solution.MOVE!!


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## steve-in-kville (Aug 30, 2006)

dougchips said:


> We are safe so long as they do not request "no gas".



Heh, there goes 98% of employed trade workers!!:whistling

steve


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## GregS (Oct 1, 2006)

stacker said:


> building homes,what does having a shower at the end of work have to do with smoking while roughing in a house?while roughing in there is enough air flow,that smoke isnt going to effect your clothes or your friggin lungs.unless that plumber is blowing smoke all over you,and if it effects you that much i have a solution.MOVE!!


Cigarette smoke is very sticky and it doesn't take much to get to your clothes and you have to smell it for the rest of the day. 

No drywall means the smoke can be smelled everywhere in the house.

Even worse in the winter when everything is closed up.

No sir, I don't like it.


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## roofwiz74 (Oct 27, 2006)

Copenhagen,and spit cups are for beginners.


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## ProWallGuy (Oct 17, 2003)

I only smoke in bed.

At least that's what the wife tells me.


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## Norrrrrrrrrrrrm (Jan 20, 2007)

I don't smoke. It's a nasty and smelly habit. I have a part time guy that helps me and I do not use him that much because he smokes so much. It stinks everything up he is around. I think it is rude to smell so bad in someones home.


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## stacker (Jan 31, 2006)

BuildingHomes said:


> Cigarette smoke is very sticky and it doesn't take much to get to your clothes
> 
> No sir, I don't like it.


lol,i have heard smoke called alot of things but never sticky.that must be what is dripping off my ceiling in me housei respect the fact that you dont like cigarette smoke.you maybe able to smell smoke in a house without drywall,ill give you that,but again unless you are standing right next to that smoker,you wont get enough smoke on your clothes to make them smell.

i would much rather stand beside and smell a smoker than i would someone who got drunker than a waltzing piss ant the night before,or one who hasnt had a bath for a couple days.

as far a smokeless tobacco use.nothing pisses me off more than working where someone has been spitting.


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## drywallet (Feb 26, 2007)

ProWallGuy said:


> I only smoke in bed.
> 
> At least that's what the wife tells me.


Right on ProWall


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## Big Bob (May 30, 2007)

ProWallGuy said:


> I only smoke in bed.
> 
> At least that's what the wife tells me.



Funny, thats not what she tells her boy friends.


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## ProWallGuy (Oct 17, 2003)

Big Bob said:


> Funny, thats not what she tells her boy friends.


Sorry you misunderstood me.

I was talking about _your_ wife. :jester:


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## dirt diggler (May 14, 2006)

stacker said:


> i would much rather stand beside and smell a smoker than i would someone who got drunker than a waltzing piss ant the night before,or one who hasnt had a bath for a couple days.


best thing about smoking is that you aren't able to smell other smokers

(well - unless you go half a day without one)


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## stacker (Jan 31, 2006)

dirt diggler said:


> best thing about smoking is that you aren't able to smell other smokers
> 
> (well - unless you go half a day without one)


thats true.im a heavy smoker,i will go thru 4 packs a day.i cant smell it on my clothes,but i can smell it in my house,and truck.


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## Moscow (May 3, 2005)

I am a chewer and I think that you should never spit on the sidewalk, trash can, and in a spit cup however, if sombody lights up next to me and i have to smell his/her nasty smoke then they will have to look and maby kneel in my nasty chew spit. If you respect my space then I will respect yours.


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## mdshunk (Mar 13, 2005)

stacker said:


> ... respect the fact that you dont like cigarette smoke.you maybe able to smell smoke in a house without drywall,ill give you that, but again unless you are standing right next to that smoker,you wont get enough smoke on your clothes to make them smell.


That's what you think, you smoke puffing hog! :furious: 

You don't realize that you've been desensitized to the smell. I can work on a job where nobody has been smoking, but the place is "smoked up" (like a bar during the closed hours), and my wife can smell cigarette smoke on me when I come home. 

Cigarette smoke is just plain hoggish. No other way to say it. Makes me want to puke.

There is something fundamentally lacking in a man who knows he's puffing poison into his body, and wants to stand up and fight for his right to do so. There's something seriously lacking in that same guy when he tries to justify why it shouldn't bother other people, when other people are in fact legitimately bothered by it.


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## AbeBarker (Jan 3, 2007)

That makes good sense now Mr. MD but to the old timers who are still around that is plain old sassy ****.


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## mdshunk (Mar 13, 2005)

AbeBarker said:


> That makes good sense now Mr. MD but to the old timers who are still around that is plain old sassy ****.


Call it sass or whatever, but the sentiment remains the same. Cigarette smokers are hogs. Even if you think you're a dignified and well-mannered cigarette smoker, you're still a hog.


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## Kent Whitten (Mar 24, 2006)

> you are not hurting anyone else by smoking


That is absolutely not true if you are smoking in the same building as someone else.

People do it all the time at work. I don't smoke and I'm the odd man out. I don't complain about it to anyone. If I don't like it I have not much choice except to leave. It should be different, but in construction, it's not normal NOT to have some type of vice. it doesn't bother me, but health problems are health problems. 

You should quit. And the guys spitting in the bottle....you guys suck!:laughing: Hardly anyone of you guys I've met have ever tossed the bottle when they're done. They use it for their ashtray and it stinks even more. Then it gets left behind the sheetrock. 

I've been meaning to start a thread on something like this for awhile now. I really want to ask one favor from you smokers.....just one....please. Can you stop tossing your cigarette butts out the window? Every time I stop to take a leak on my favorite state (MA) I'm amazed at the amount of cigarette butts on the ground. Thousands. Not only is it litter, but it can start a grass fire, which is usually the case. It's not that hard to reach over and put it out in your ashtray.


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## K2 (Jul 8, 2005)

MD calling me a hog would make me want to light one up... except I don't smoke.:laughing: Maybe I'll see if i can bum one from the neighbor or just partake in one of my other bad habits.:laughing: Almost Friday,:clap: we should be happy.


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## mdshunk (Mar 13, 2005)

K2eoj said:


> MD calling me a hog would make me want to light one up... except I don't smoke.


I'm sorry that my personality grinds on you. That's just the way I feel about it, is all.


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## mikec (Jan 2, 2007)

I do smoke, but I'm quitting tonight in fact! Tomorrow is the day I picked to quit. So 2 more in the pack and its patch city. It bugs me that I smoke, but I've been on a job with an electrician that farts so bad it would make MD light up a Maralboro and shove the lit end up his nose. Now that is disgusting. He'll even come over to where you're working cock a leg and rip one!


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## mdshunk (Mar 13, 2005)

mikec said:


> I do smoke, but I'm quitting tonight in fact! Tomorrow is the day I picked to quit. So 2 more in the pack and its patch city. It bugs me that I smoke, but I've been on a job with an electrician that farts so bad it would make MD light up a Maralboro and shove the lit end up his nose. Now that is disgusting. He'll even come over to where you're working cock a leg and rip one!


Don't blame me for what your numb-skull electrician does. I try wait and pass gas when I'm going to the truck for something. I already know that nobody wants to smell that either.


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## K2 (Jul 8, 2005)

mdshunk said:


> I'm sorry that my personality grinds on you. .



I was just goofin.


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## mikec (Jan 2, 2007)

MD I wasn't blameing you, just used you to illustrate how bad they are.


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## stacker (Jan 31, 2006)

mdshunk said:


> That's what you think, you smoke puffing hog! :furious:
> 
> You don't realize that you've been desensitized to the smell. I can work on a job where nobody has been smoking, but the place is "smoked up" (like a bar during the closed hours), and my wife can smell cigarette smoke on me when I come home.
> 
> ...


1st off i have already said i cant smell the smoke on me so that point is mute.
now if you are on a job and no one is smoking,where is the smoke coming from?
your line about smoke being hogwash is your opinion and it is your right to voice that opinion.just like if i want to continue smoking,that is MY RIGHT.and it also my right to stand up and fight for that right.
i am not tring to justify why it shouldnt bother anyone.i am smart enough to know it does.i am also sensitve enough that if i am smoking and a customer or someone comes up that doesnt smoke.i will put out my cigarette.but you cant sit there and be honest about it and tell me that if i am working 40,50,60 feet from you in an open area that my smoke is going to bother you.that sir,is hogwash.


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## mdshunk (Mar 13, 2005)

stacker said:


> 1st off i have already said i cant smell the smoke on me so that point is mute.
> now if you are on a job and no one is smoking,where is the smoke coming from?
> your line about smoke being hogwash is your opinion and it is your right to voice that opinion.just like if i want to continue smoking,that is MY RIGHT.and it also my right to stand up and fight for that right.
> i am not tring to justify why it shouldnt bother anyone.i am smart enough to know it does.i am also sensitve enough that if i am smoking and a customer or someone comes up that doesnt smoke.i will put out my cigarette.but you cant sit there and be honest about it and tell me that if i am working 40,50,60 feet from you in an open area that my smoke is going to bother you.that sir,is hogwash.


Yes, I agree. It is still your right to be a smoke puffing hog. It is also my right to not like it, and it is also my right to repeatedly point out the fact that you are a hog.


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## POOLMANinCT (Oct 7, 2006)

I just spit in the mud or mixer. I don't allow smoking on jobsites, bcof the litter... go in the vans and smoke at lunch...
if you ash in my spitoon I will spit in you cig pack...


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## Magnettica (Dec 19, 2006)

If customers want a smoke-free crew to work at their house, that will come at a cost. And those who don't smoke, or spit, or leave thier sandwich wrappers around the site, do and should be paid more. No excuse for sloppiness like that on the job. Would you hire you?


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## dougchips (Apr 23, 2006)

stacker said:


> but you cant sit there and be honest about it and tell me that if i am working 40,50,60 feet from you in an open area that my smoke is going to bother you.that sir,is hogwash.


It would bother me. Non smokers can smell smoke because their noses still work, the smell upsets some people. 

I am all for smoking, the earth is to crowded to begin with and it is one of the few methods of legal suicide that is left.


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## K2 (Jul 8, 2005)

I don't think ranchers should be smoking around the cattle that might be on my supper table. When they got them in the cincher, shooting them up with estrogen, antibiotics, and a few other things they might blow smoke in their face which could end up in my T-bone.


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## Kent Whitten (Mar 24, 2006)

LOL, nice one doug! I have been laying sheathing on a roof, back to the street, earplugs in, radio on, not knowing anyone was behind me on the ground 25' below and I could smell this woman getting out of her car with the wind blowing the other way. It smells quite a bit. I can smell it on my clothes and my wife can smell it when I get home. And in a home, the nicotine does make the walls sticky. Takes awhile, but it does.


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## tgeb (Feb 9, 2006)

I quit smoking in 1985 after about 10 years of wasting money on cigarettes. I was at a pack + per day. Quit cold turkey. Best thing I ever did!

As far as on site, my guys don't have the habit.
Tried a guy out that was a smoker, he didn't work out.

As far as the chewers they drive me nuts on jobs, with their cups and bottles of nasty leavin's. And everybody spitting every where, YUCK!!
The ground is my work place...please do that somewhere else! 
Grosses me out.


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## WNYcarpenter (Mar 2, 2007)

K2eoj said:


> I don't think ranchers should be smoking around the cattle that might be on my supper table. When they got them in the cincher, shooting them up with estrogen, antibiotics, and a few other things they might blow smoke in their face which could end up in my T-bone.


 Thank you...so much **** is pushed into our environment that goes unnoticed! Obesity is the leading cause of health issues. Smoking is the most obvious....It's bad, yes I know, but it's the main focus when there's so many other things that should hold a higher priority.


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## KillerToiletSpider (May 27, 2007)

K2eoj said:


> I don't think ranchers should be smoking around the cattle that might be on my supper table. When they got them in the cincher, shooting them up with estrogen, antibiotics, and a few other things they might blow smoke in their face which could end up in my T-bone.


If you don't like it, you could do what I do, and not eat anything I didn't kill, catch, or grow. My kids have never eaten beef, pork or chicken.


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## dougchips (Apr 23, 2006)

KillerToiletSpi said:


> If you don't like it, you could do what I do, and not eat anything I didn't kill, catch, or grow. My kids have never eaten beef, pork or chicken.


That's cool:thumbsup:

Generally chickens, pigs and cows and slow animals and are easy to catch and kill. What type of animals do you catch/kill? What do you feed them for breakfast?

BTW, I am not being a wise asss, I grew up eatting food out of our garden and sheep that we raised.


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## KillerToiletSpider (May 27, 2007)

dougchips said:


> That's cool:thumbsup:
> 
> Generally chickens, pigs and cows and slow animals and are easy to catch and kill. What type of animals do you catch/kill? What do you feed them for breakfast?
> 
> BTW, I am not being a wise asss, I grew up eatting food out of our garden and sheep that we raised.


I catch fish, bass, salmon, crappie, turtle, etc. I hunt deer, pheasant, grouse, dove, turkey, caribou, moose, bear, and boar mostly. I use a bow for all four legged game and turkey, except boar, we hunt those with spears.


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## Teetorbilt (Feb 12, 2004)

I'm back at it in a limited way (about half a pack a day).

Stress brings the desire for comfort. This can be food, smokes, sodas or anything that helps puts you in your 'comfort zone'.

I started smoking in 1958. It was cool. Everybody from John Wayne and Jimmy Cagney to Katherine Hepburn was doing it. Ronald Regan promoted Chesterfields on the back cover of National Geographic magazine. Smoking puts me into this zone, (life was good back then).

I have quit a number of times but seem to go back when the stress level goes past a certain point. I agree that it's a nasty habit. It does smell, my kids tell me so. Beating it is a SOB. 

I smoke in the work truck, not the car and never in the house. Never before meeting clients. My guys would never smoke in a customers house, framers would be a different story.


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## stacker (Jan 31, 2006)

well crap,i think i am going to quit going to work because i might piss some one off.maybe i will piss them off because i smoke,maybe it will be because i drink too much diet dp,maybe i parked in the wrong spot.

md and doug,it would be a great honor to meet you two guys.meeting someone with no faults and no bad habits doesnt happen very often.mother teresa was a slut compared to you guys.


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## Joasis (Mar 28, 2006)

I am hoping this time to quit for good...it is a ***** to quit.....and the worst thing is I like to smoke, and it hasn't started affecting me really..I don't have a smoker's cough or hack...but I am noticing I don't have the lung capacity I used to.....and watching my Mom die of lung cancer...well, I wouldn't want to see anyone go through it. 

As per my first post, if you smoke and want to quit, Chantix is the prescription to get.


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## K2 (Jul 8, 2005)

> As per my first post, if you smoke and want to quit, Chantix is the prescription to get.


I don't know. Putting another drug in your system to quit a drug sounds complicated. Just quit. 

I'd like to do a spread sheet on all the dough a guy could save in 25 years by quitting. That could probably entice a few penney pinchers.


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## stacker (Jan 31, 2006)

id love to quit smoking.in fact i have several times,with the longest being about 6 months.
as far as money is concerned,i could be driving a new pickup with the money i spend on smokes a month.


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## The plumber (Jul 5, 2007)

buy some febreeze and bribe the contractor not to smoke with $50. I'll win bets at any cost


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## The plumber (Jul 5, 2007)

K2eoj said:


> I don't think ranchers should be smoking around the cattle that might be on my supper table. When they got them in the cincher, shooting them up with estrogen, antibiotics, and a few other things they might blow smoke in their face which could end up in my T-bone.


Aint nothin wrong with a smoked t-bone. I prefer mesquite or marlboro myself:whistling


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## Kent Whitten (Mar 24, 2006)

> well crap,i think i am going to quit going to work because i might piss some one off.maybe i will piss them off because i smoke,maybe it will be because i drink too much diet dp,maybe i parked in the wrong spot.
> 
> md and doug,it would be a great honor to meet you two guys.meeting someone with no faults and no bad habits doesnt happen very often.mother teresa was a slut compared to you guys.


What I think it comes down to a little is not the fact that non smokers don't like it, it's an invasion of our space. Everyone has personal space. When you go into a doctors office and one other person s there and there's 10 chairs, you aren't going to sit next to the person, you're going to sit far away.

Smoking invades our personal space. It's our space and smoking will invade everyones space whether they like it or not. Second hand smoke has been confirmed to harm others as much as the smoker themselves.

Has nothing to do with your parking habits or diet pepsi. Unless you're parking on the lawn of the client or leaving the empty pepsi can with tobacco spit or ashtray and let someone else pick it up, I could care less. You want to smoke at your house, knock yourself out.

It usually doesn't bother me in the least unless there's a ton of smokers, then I gotta leave cause I can breathe which has happened once. I've done enough damage to my lungs from other things, I don't need more that is something that can be avoidable.


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## Bummie (May 11, 2007)

Smokers are a quirky bunch... I know...* I was one*. Now on the other hand non-smokers are a quirky bunch ... I know... *I am one*.

When I used to smoke I couldn't figure out what the big fuss was all about.... jeez ... non-smokers would get pissed at me for no good reason. It wasn't like I was blowing smoke right in their face!!!

Now that I'm a non-smoker I wish I would have known how bad smoke makes a person smell!!! If my nose would have worked back when I smoked I would have quit a lot sooner than I did. Man ... that is some nasty, stinkin' stuff that tobacco!!!!!!!! Plus it ain't all that healthy.... my lungs are half full of drywall dust and sawdust.... there ain't no room for tar and nicotine!!!


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## Joasis (Mar 28, 2006)

Anti smoking was just getting to be a major issue in when I went to the Army...and during my flight physical, the flight surgeon showed me a book that had sectional slices of lung tissues.....pink healthy ones, all the way to coal lung...and then a 2 pack a day for 30 years lungs....looked just like the coal dust lung....and I still didn't quit.

Anyone who has smoked understands what it is like to quit, and those who have never smoked are not only lucky, but have no idea of the torment it is to quit. I wish I had one right now....but I am still smoke free.


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