SMOKIN RIGHTS?

there's alot of intertesting things goin on in this article from adrian that has really got me noggin crankin.

i've been smokin again for about a month now and just beginning my preparations for my 4th attempt at quitting. i've been really happy with the direction that we've been heading. the taxes and the limits on smokin areas have been invaluable deterants and i am grateful for any help i can get. quittin is no easy feat - i bow down to anyone who has. i'm sickened by those of u who make it seem so easy, i wish i could find that kind of strength inside myself. i've been smokin for 15 years nows and the ill effects are all are showing on me. i'm pretty grosed out with myself lately.

to date, last year was my most sucessful attempt ever. i went practically smoke free for about 8 months out of the year and it didn't even seem hard. i was around very few smokers and i was very active. i noticed my complexion cleared up spic n' span - i had radioactive skin that practically glowed. i saved a whlole whack of cash money (which i promptly blew on the dvd collection that has since gone wild). another interesting thing i noticed was that i wasn't cold any more. this might sound strange but some of u know that i had a problem with being perpetually cold. i was always wearin way more clothes than everyone else. i always seemed to be just a coupla degrees colder than everyone else. if anything, my body temperature is abnormally high now. i require much less clothing which rocks cuz i hate lookin like stay puft.
ROAR!

i think i would be ok if my company told me i had to quit - i think i would invite it actually. it's seems fair enough given the amount of time and resources the the company is offering the employee. the arguements listed in the discussion that followed the article just didn't seem to fly with me. there is no justification, no benifit at all, for smokers to smoke. it's a disgusting habit.

i noticed alot of people hiding behind the legality of smokin. this seems obsurd! how many of these same people do u think believe that their government really knows best? yes, i think tabacco should be made illegal but i don't see it happening any time soon. it's a profitable poison for the government to condone.

the company makes good points. smokin IS counterproductive and it IS costing them health care dollars. tabacco is "mind altering" - read: IS a drug. reflecting on just my own situation is proof enough for me to back the big ban. i took fewer sick days and was alot more focused while at work. i was more energetic and a more positive person to be around. how much of this had to do with not smokin? i'm not sure - it was kinda a crazy year - i was just a happier person who wanted to do more things but i'm sure the smoke-freeness had bundles to do with it. i could feel how much healthier i had become. now that i've started again - i feel that much worse. smokin takes a toll on my day to day activities, this is certain and i'm sure if i were any smarter i could measure it for u.

i do, however, have my doubts. the implications of such a drastic move are kinda frightening. i agree that there is nothin healthy about smokin, and props to any company willing to reasonably aid their employees quittin but some fundamental rights do seem to have been put through the wringer here. which ones? well, again, if i were smarter...

i keep runnin this scenario through my head. what if my company were to tell me i had to quit junk food - eat healthy or get canned? junk food, empty sugar, fat...there's a billion things in my day to day diet that r bad for me. this is a problem that could also possibly lead to dollars pawed from the health benifits kitty. obesity is quickly becoming an epidemic. in the last few months my diet has gone haywire. i've had no time to cook, no time to eat. work had me runnin round the clock so if i was really starvin i usually resorted to gettin someone to pick up lunch for me. i ate what everyone else ate - fast food. i felt sluggish, unhealthy and all around poopy. an unhealthy diet could proove to be as detrimental as smokin. the crap i've been eatin made me feel like crap. i'm not very happy with my appearance. this leads to depression which hinders my motivation. this = less productivity and a kinda grumpy me. but would i be ok if my company tried to control this in me? the result would be a healthier me but somehow the decison to eat what i want feels sacred - it's off limits. but how is this different than smoking?

how is it that i feel i do not have to right to pollute my lungs but yet i have every right to clog my arteries?