Anyone else get in trouble for taking too many smoke breaks at work?

[Beckysmokes]

Has anyone else here ever gotten in trouble at work for taking too many smoke breaks?  My boss just chewed me out yesterday because he complained that I take a smoke break like every hour and that its distracting to other people in the office.

Its really hard though because Im like totally addicted to cigarettes, which I know is awful, but I go through these stages where like I totally love them/need them, and I feel really irrational and guilty about the whole thing.  Ive gotten to be a pretty heavy smoker, like at least two packs a day most weekdays, often times more on weekends like almost three packs a day, especially when I go out on Friday or Saturday nights - its awful I know, but I started smoking when I was in middle school and Ive struggled with my addiction to cigarettes for almost ten years.

Ive kinda half-heartedly tried different things to quit smoking, like the nicorette gum and the patch, but they dont seem to work that well, and I just end up giving in and starting up smoking again. In fact, earlier this week I decided to get back on the patch again (the 21mg) along with the Nicorette gum (4mg) and was going to try to use them as part of a slow, measured step down where I try to smoke 1 cigarette a day less than the day before - starting by limiting myself to only 40 cigarettes on monday, then 39 yesterday, and hopefully I'll only need 38 cigarettes today...

But yesterday, while I was being so proud of myself for trying to maintain the goal of limiting myself to only 39 cigarettes all day, I was at work coming back into the office after another smoke break with another girl who works here - when my boss pulled me asside and gave me a talking to about taking too many smoke breaks at work and that I always reeked of stale cigarettes among other things like telling me I wasnt dressing professionally enough because I wore too many short skirts and high heels without pantyhose around the office like everyday, which is total bs because I read the dress code and measured my skirt length and also saw that the only office requirement on shoes is that they be black, it didnt say I had to wear socks or pantyhose with the shoes, just that they have to be black - which mine were - so I cant tell if one thing was a pre-text for the other or what - but I show up everyday on time, often times early, and I never leave early, in fact I often stay a little bit extra late to help close everything down for the day.

so I have no idea what gives him the right to complain to me about those other things - especially not when I never take a smoke break alone - I always take a smoke break with one of the other girls in the office - basically, I just join whoever is going out for their smoke break, which I cant see as wrong - about the worst thing I could be accused of is occasionally I will quietly mention that Im headed out for another smoke break and ask or encourage one of the other girls in the office to come have a cigarette with me so I dont have to smoke alone - but thats about it. I always do the rest of my work, and I always do a good job and get my work done on time - so I dont know why he was so hot under the collar about it.

Its hard enough as it is to try and cut back on smoking - especially while Im stressing about other health issues - and my boss chewing me out about smoking too much isn't helping the situation and in fact stresses me out and makes me feel like I need cigarettes even more to deal with the stress from it. I feel like my efforts to slowly cut back on the total number of cigarettes I smoke are being sabotaged by someone else who is complaining about my smoking in a way that makes me stress out about my job  - it doesnt seem fair and I was just wanting to know that I wasn't alone in having to deal with these problems.

[opus88]

perhaps a change of jobs would be a suggestion Ashley....you don't sound like you enjoy yours very much. -(
these 'crazy old people' really need alot of compassion for the circumstances they find themselves in through no fault of their own..

[Ashley_tiny85]

I hate that. I work in a memory care unit, so I got a bunch of crazy old people that are all delusional, can't remember a thing surrounding me. All I want to do is chain smoke. then smoke more cuz i don't want to be there, then more because they keep repeating themselves and more more more. Now time to cut back

[teko]

Here is the short of it. You can sleep for more than an hour without smoking. You can work for more than an hour without smoking. Frankly, your employer is paying a wage for your time to do a job. He is not paying for your habit. The employer has ALL the rights and if it were me, you would either work or find another job.

People who use smoking as a crutch to do what they want is what stripped smokers of their rights. And yes I am a 2 pack a dayer for 35 years and went off about 9 months ago cold turkey. So I know all about wanting to smoke. BUT, if I were your employer? You would not be working for me.