Statewide Smoking Ban Starts Today

Today the statewide smoking ban takes effect. As a result of this new law, the smoking shack where I work has changed. I've worked at this building for about 15 years. It's a 4 story government center building. Over the years the smoke shake has changed in ways I could never have predicted. Originally we didn't have a smoking shack. Smokers stood outside the doors to smoke. There were and still are cigarette trays on top of the garbage containers for smokers to extinguish their butts. People complained about having to walk through a haze of smoke to enter the building. Property Management staff put signs on the doors directing people to move 20 feet away from the door to smoke. Yet they kept the garbage container/ash trays near the doors so people continued to smoke near the door. So Property Management added more signs to the lobby. At one time I counted 12 signs in the lobby - one on each side of the 4 doors, one outside, one inside and a couple between the doors on the side walls. Eventually they built a smoke shack. Originally it was a pole barn style smoking shack - just a roof on 4 pillars. The roof had shingles and it looked okay. Tables and chairs and ashtrays were added. But the smokers got cold and since (in my humble opinion) property management staff were all smokers, walls were added to 3 sides of the smoke shack. Only the eastern side of the smoke shack - the side that faced the parking lot did not have a wall. Then people were concerned that crime could occur unseen in the smoke shack because no one could see into it from inside the building. Large windows were added to the 3 sides of the smoke shack that had walls. The smoke shack is on the same side of the building as the daycare. Daycare staff did not want their charges exposed to second hand smoke and the obscene language used by some smokers. Property Management considered moving the smoke shack to the west side of the building but this was not done because of the expense of moving the smoke shack. So the kids still get to see, hear, and smell the smokers smoking. Now, because of the statewide smoking ban, the windows were removed from the smoke shack. Did they think the windows made this a building? So now the smoke shack has a 4 poles, a roof, 3 walls, and 3 glass less holes in the wall. I hear they are thinking of putting screens into the 3 holes in the walls. If they do, I predict the inventive smokers will bring a spray bottle of water outside in the winter, mist the screens and creating their own temporary ice glass windows. What a world. So glad I don't smoke anymore.