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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

should the lollipop man be smoking?

102 replies

biddysmama · 05/10/2011 09:24

i live across from the school and the lollipop man stands in front of my window.

he usually has 2 cigarretes while he's there

aibu to think he should wait and its not showing the children a good example?

OP posts:

Francagoestohollywood · 05/10/2011 10:01

I don't see the OP getting flamed by anyone, everyone is agreeing with her.

If he is breaching his contract by smoking, fair enough, you only need to decide if you want him being sacked, if that's what's going to happen.

As for the bad example... I am totally by this. Children aren't so dumb.

Badtasteflump · 05/10/2011 10:04

Surely it's against the law for him to smoke whilst working? Does he actually do it whilst children are there or before they all start turning up?

DamselInDisarray · 05/10/2011 10:04

I'd imagine that his employers would be less than delighted that he's smoking while he's working. Apart from anything else, it's unprofessional.

PetiteRaleuse · 05/10/2011 10:07

YABU. He'd probably lose his job if you complained. And I doubt the kids are going to start smoking because he smokes in front of them for the 10 seconds they are with him.

winnybella · 05/10/2011 10:12

YABU. About a fifth of a population smoke. Should all the smokers be forbidden from lighting up where a child can see them?

I wouldn't give a shit if a lollipop man smoked.

twinklingfairy · 05/10/2011 10:13

Thats not the point! He Should Not be smoking in front of them!
If we had a lollipop man who blew smoke on my child on her way home, I would smell it when she got home and Not be impressed.

2 minutes or not, he should not be smoking in front of children, end of.

twinklingfairy · 05/10/2011 10:15

Are you a smoker winnybella?

DamselInDisarray · 05/10/2011 10:16

It doesn't matter how many people smoke though. Or whether it will harm the children. I'd imagine that the head teacher would not be at all pleased that the lollipop man was smoking while on duty. Nor would the local authority.

The reason he'd lose his job is because it's unprofessional and makes the school/local authority look bad. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect people to behave professionally at work.

When I worked in mcdonalds as a teenager, our managers insisted that people covered up their uniform if they were smoking on their breaks.

squeakytoy · 05/10/2011 10:16

Why shouldnt children see anyone smoking? What on earth is it going to do them if they see it?

Morloth · 05/10/2011 10:17

Does he have a big belly and wear a reflective vest with his bottom hanging out of his jeans and a 3 day shadow?

Which for some reason is what I have pictured.

If so, then perhaps he could serve as a terrible warning?

BatsUpMeNightie · 05/10/2011 10:19

Good God! The curtain twitchers are out early today! Look OP - just leave the bloke alone and if you can't leave him alone then go all the way and get him sacked and humiliated, preferably in the national press. Organise a witch hunt. Do whatever you have to do to make yourself feel better.

Or - and here's a radical approach - you could just mind your own business and leave the tittle tattle in the playground where it belongs.

twinklingfairy · 05/10/2011 10:23

When the stench is drifting in through her window, I don't see how is it playground tittle tattle

twinklingfairy · 05/10/2011 10:27

God, it is like when you go to the supermarket and have to walk through the smokers to get in. Why is that acceptable?
I don't smoke, I can't stand the smell and think it is a pretty stupid thing for anyone to do.
I do think that children should not have to see it. It should not be part of their everyday walk to school to have to walk though smoke, getting in their hair and on their clothes.
I do not get that anyone would think that this is acceptable.

Even if he isn't smoking in front of the children. Uh, smokers. The smell lingers.

winnybella · 05/10/2011 10:28

Why is it unprofessional for a lollipop man to smoke? Does it prevent him from performing his job well?

squeakytoy · 05/10/2011 10:29

I assume you do not take your children to bonfires or bbq's either then Twinkling. :)

winnybella · 05/10/2011 10:31

Oh, come on, quickly passing someone in the street smoking (not standing next to) will not result in you smelling of smoke.

onagar · 05/10/2011 10:31

He works for the council, so it's against the rules anyway Wrong. It is not illegal for council employees to smoke. Who told you that?.

Surely it's against the law for him to smoke whilst working? Wrong. All those people smoking outside the doors of office buildings are currently 'working'

The law is there to stop non-smokers being stuck in a room with a smoker. Hence people going outside to smoke. This guy is already outside.

Having said that you can probably make trouble for him if you enjoy that kind of thing.

squeakytoy · 05/10/2011 10:34

I think it may be against the rules for him to be smoking while actually crossing a child over the road, but if he is just stood doing nothing, then I doubt it is going to be a sackable offence.

Why not just put a damp cloth over your face, and lean out of the window to ask him to smoke a few feet down the road, (I assume you must live on a street where the houses open directly onto the road to be able to smell the smoke inside your house).

onagar · 05/10/2011 10:34

"God, it is like when you go to the supermarket and have to walk through the smokers to get in. Why is that acceptable?"

They are outside because you can no longer have a smoking area inside for employees. People like yourself liked the idea of the law and now whine that you don't like the result. Be careful what you wish for in future.

tyler80 · 05/10/2011 10:37

Where I work it is a disciplinary offence to smoke during working hours. Smoking breaks are not allowed. So the lollipop man smoking whilst at work is breaking the rules.

Salmotrutta · 05/10/2011 10:38

Is he doing this when children are there or not OP?

It's not on if he's dropping fag ash over their heads or waving them over with a fag in his hand but if it's a few sneaky puffs when there are no children around then I don't see a problem.

BeerTricksPotter · 05/10/2011 10:38

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

onagar · 05/10/2011 10:41

tyler80 you might be able to get him on those grounds, but the question is. why would you want to? Given that the intent is to stop non-smokers being stuck in a room with someone who is smoking?

If your company brought in the extra rule about smoking breaks perhaps they felt the need because it was harming productivity, but presumably they didn't invent it just to get at smokers.

SeenButNotHeard · 05/10/2011 10:41

In my LA he would be breaking the terms of his contract and he would be working for the LA, rather than directly for the school, but I understand that this may not be the case in all areas.

Here, smoking breaks have ended. There is no entitlement to smoke other than during lunchtime and this has been written into a 'Smoke Free Policy'.

I don't think the OP is talking about organising a witch hunt

JustGetOnWithIt · 05/10/2011 10:42

Maybe they should change the shape of his stick - surely a giant lollipop is a terrible temptation to children.
Children are not allowed to smoke, adults are, because we trust adults to make choices about the risks they take - simple. Why can't you just tell your children this instead of demanding that all adults adopt child-like behaviour?

I find it truly depressing that sane adults would even THINK about endangering a helpful person's job (presumably he is quite good at stopping small children getting run over) over something that harms only himself (there is no evidence, not will there ever be, that smelling cigarette smoke in the open air causes any harm whatsoever to passersby).
This is fascism of a new kind and no, that is not an exaggeration. Horrible, horrible, horrible.

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