Smokin'

Due to the forthcoming changes in the law, my company has just issued us with a new smoking policy. This doesn't really affect me, as although I do smoke at home (well, the garden), I refrain from doing so at work. But nevertheless, the policy is typically corporate-daft, and deserves a mention.

The current situation is this: Go outside the back entrance and have a fag. The building is a kind of "U" shape, with the back entrance being hidden from the front (as back entrances usually are). Therefore no visitors can see you out the back having a crafty puff. There is also one of those special bins on the wall to put empty butts in.

The new policy insists that you must go 100 meters from the company premesis (I presume HR will be measuring the distance, ready to pounce and slap you with a written warning should you only go 98 by mistake). And you only have ten minutes in which to do this, i.e. walk down 5 flights of stairs, walk 100 meters, walk 100 meters back and then back up 5 flights of stairs. Currently the whole lot can be accomplished in about 5.

The doubly-stupid bit is that we share a building, so if the other companies don't have such silly rules, half of the building will be smoking either by the back entrance, or right outside the front (should "on-premesis" smoking not be allowed) anyway.

But the really really stupid bit is that if all companies have the same policy, then all we'll achieve is a kind of redistribution of smokers (and smoke). So as somebody from our building traipses 100 meters away to stand in front of another building, somebody from that other building will be traipsing 100 meters to stand infront of ours.

Old way - nobody smoking out the front. No litter.
New way - potentially loads of people smoking out the front. Plenty of litter.

Now that's progress.