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AIBU?

To think nursery staff should'nt stink of stale cigarettes?

77 replies

Sushipaws · 15/07/2008 11:27

As an ex-smoker I know I can be a bit anti-smoking, but purely from a health point of view.

I don't care if people want to smoke when they're not looking after my child but when I pick my dd up the room manager smells like an ashtray and it's unpleasant and unhealthy.

Am I being unreasonable or justified in wanting her to wash her hands and change her jumper after she's had a fag?

OP posts:

Report

2shoes · 15/07/2008 11:28

ffs

Sushipaws · 15/07/2008 11:33

Is that a ffs, yabu

or a ffs, yanbu

OP posts:

ScottishMummy · 15/07/2008 11:36

maybe a ffs i need a fag smelling nice is just good hygiene whether you smoke or not

NN at LO nursery some smoke but they dont smell of it.long as they wash hands
prior to contact no problemo

HumphreyCushioni · 15/07/2008 11:39

YANBU.
I would be unhappy about it too.

There was a similar thread a few weeks ago.
It got all kicky-offy.

Sushipaws · 15/07/2008 11:40

oh, i don't want to start a smoking row.

OP posts:

NomDePlume · 15/07/2008 11:43

I'm sorry but washing hands is not good enough. Smoke permeates clothes and hair so the person will still whiff whether they wash their hands or not.

The smell of smoke is rank, imo but I think it is a bit strong to insist that the NN change their clothes etc during their breaks (which they are legally entitled to). So long as they are adhering to company policy re smoking on the premises (grounds as well as interior of buildings) then YABU.

NomDePlume · 15/07/2008 11:43

Sushi, you must realise that your OP is the beginnings of a row about smoking.

ScottishMummy · 15/07/2008 11:47

fwiw i thought this was a "smoking stinks post"

i dont be realistically accept nursery staff do

Sushipaws · 15/07/2008 11:59

I didn't intend this to start a row about smoking, all i intended was to find out if I was being a fussy non-smoker or if I was being valid. I obviously didn't think ahead, my brain is'nt working too well as dd just got 2 molars and had no sleep.

Sorry if I've caused offence.

OP posts:

HumphreyCushioni · 15/07/2008 12:18

You haven't been at all offensive, sushipaws.
I agree with you.

KatieDD · 15/07/2008 13:00

Hmmm I don't like the smell of it but these carers are usually on minimum wage and I'm sorry but tend to be low educated and from backgrounds where smoking is common, hence I don't in an ideal world want my baby in a nursery if I have another, I've used them a lot in the past and regret it.

2shoes · 15/07/2008 13:21

it is just same old same old. lets bash smokers. it is not ilegal to smoke. so expedting someone to change their clothes cos you don't like the smell is potty.
I hate dd smelling of pergume. can't abide it. but I have to put up and shut up.

2shoes · 15/07/2008 13:23

katiedd has just proved my point

HermanMunster · 15/07/2008 13:35

"and I'm sorry but tend to be low educated and from backgrounds where smoking is common,"

what an odd comment. i thought smoking was pretty common across all soceity.
i went to a posh private school and for years i was the only non-smoker amongst my friends.

lilyloo · 15/07/2008 13:40

katiedd hows that for a general assumption

What sort of background would that be ?

whispywhisp · 15/07/2008 13:48

It doesn't matter whether you are on the minimum wage or on the highest possible wage....people will smoke regardless of what they earn. Same applies to whatever background you come from...whether you are well educated or not. Anyone can stick a fag in their mouth. Anyone.

I live next door to a family of smokers. Not nice for me considering the fact I am a non-smoker. Yes it does stink. Yes it stinks the most when they open their back door in the mornings, or a window or even when the cat uses the cat-flap. We have to shut our bedroom windows (at the back of our house - the same as their back door) because the smell is dreadful. They don't like to open their windows very often so the smell is quite bad when they do allow fresh air in. They smoke in their cars with their kids in the car and their windows shut. Their kids are regularly coughing quite badly too.

Each to their own as far as I'm concerned. If people want to smoke let them. So long as it doesn't bother me that's fine.

Would I allow my child to go to a nursery where the Manager smells like an 'ashtray'? No I wouldn't. On the rare occasion when my kids have been into a smoker's home I have had to wash their hair, put them in the bath, wash their clothing including their coats and stick their shoes out in the garden to freshen up. Yeuck.

KatieDD · 15/07/2008 13:51

But as you said yourself the manager smelling like an ashtray is unacceptable and you wouldn't allow your child to attend. Low paid "workers" seem to smoke, I have drawn that conclusion from the ones I have met through various situations including nursery settings.

lilyloo · 15/07/2008 13:55

Oh right a fair assumption then

whispywhisp · 15/07/2008 13:56

I think it is a bit harsh to label smokers as having come from 'low educated backgrounds where smoking is common' and on the 'minimum wage'. Blimey. I know of plenty of smokers in quite nice large houses, drive nice 4x4 vehicles and hold down well paid jobs.

itati · 15/07/2008 13:57

I feel someone looking after your child should not smoke at all during the hours they are there.

It also annoys me when I go shopping and see Sainsbury's staff all lined up outside having a cigarette.

crokky · 15/07/2008 13:57

My DS saw a paediatrician at 10 days old. He stank strongly of smoke and I was a bit horrified. He'd had breathing difficulties as well (my DS that is!). I am sure the paed earned plenty of dosh!

whispywhisp · 15/07/2008 14:00

Presumably the Manager smokes outside the nursery sushi? If so how can she smell so badly at the end of the day? Why does the room smell like an ashtray? Unless of course she is (illegally) smoking in the room itself?

If she smokes outside and changes her clothes daily and baths/washes her hair she shouldn't smell too strongly surely?

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RubySlippers · 15/07/2008 14:02

a fair number of the staff at DS's nursery smoke

they are not allowed to smoke on site or in the garden and if you suspect that they are, then you need to challenge them about this

I can't say i have ever noticed any of the staff smelling strongly of cigarettes, or it getting transferred to DS

oh, and Katie - nice stereotyping

KatieDD · 15/07/2008 14:06

I wasn't labelling "smokers" as anything I was labelling the people who I have met in nurseries that smoke are not the managers.
I am not saying that a smoker is not capable of being very well educated or well off but the people who I know that smoke are the ones who can least afford to.

lulumama · 15/07/2008 14:08

YABU sushipaws, same as you would be if you were expecting staff not to eat garlic or other strong smelling food so as not to smell of it.

although i can see where you are coming from

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