To think that if you smoke, you should try not to make other people's clothes smell too?

[Leah35]

Shared office of four people, one colleague smokes. She comes back in after lunch and hangs her coat up with everybody else's which leaves the smoke smell on other people's clothing. I understand that the smell is going to be in the room because she comes back in immediately after smoking but hanging her coat up and making everyone else's coats stink is a bit much imo.

Any advice on how to handle this? Colleague is difficult at the best of times (has had to be disciplined a couple of times for standard of work and work ethic) so may not take kindly to anything being said to her about this.

(have nc'd as not sure if colleagues are on here)

sometimes if someone is a heavy smoker i can smell stale smoke on them and its gross or if someonesbeen smoking in the house and i go round, its quiteobvious.

If someone has a faint smell of smoke on them from being in close contact with a smoker, I wouldnt pay it any attention at all. There are loads of smells thatI dont find particularly pleasant, but its just part of life living in close proximity of other people

I work with the general public and not once have I smelt menstrual blood or semen!

@RubMyRhubarb - so the only time either of them smoked was in those very precise and limited circumstances? I would find that very unlikely. If they were smoking or hanging around with smokers, I would expect a little more variability in the timing and locations. My older ds (the one with the tutor) is quite a bit older now (20's) and we have discussed smoking, drinking, drugs openly. He still claims to never have smoked.

Smell is due to airborne particles. Therefore, in order to smell smoke, there must be airborne particles in the air. It doesn't take a lot of imagination to realise that absorbent material will absorb those airborne particles.

But carry on thinking that your smoking doesn't impact other people so long as you're not blowing smoke in their face. The delusion of some smokers is amazing.

welcome to join me here but it's cold out on the balcony

I'll be right there!

I work with the general public and not once have I smelt menstrual blood or semen!

Yeah but this is MN remember - the noses here are superhuman, highly evolved, finely tuned, radar guided, laser accurate detection devices. Powered by plutonium. Or something like that.

@laurzj82 - it is 2 different sons. As I stated previously, if they were smoking, I would expect a bit more variability in location and timing. And believe me, I'm not stupid to believe everything my kids tell me.

But carry on thinking that your smoking doesn't impact other people so long as you're not blowing smoke in their face. The delusion of some smokers is amazing

I've never, ever claimed that. See my previous posts, especially the reply to the poster who was talking about the double bagging etc - you'll see, very clearly that I haven't said smoke needs to be forcefully blasted onto people.

Since you're getting arsey I'll do the same. Your kid is quite likely to be smoking based on what you've said. You've asked him if he smokes and he said no? Oh, well that settles it then! Because kids never bullshit their parents do they?

Over the years i have had to work with people giving off these various odours: wet dog, stale curry, garlic, halitosis, BO, cheesy feet, rotting shoes, poo, urine, vomit, unwashed scalp, menstrual blood, semen.

WTF! Where have you been working?

That should say " not so stupid as to believe "

I've worked in hundreds of offices over 30 years.
I can often smell when a womans had sex the night before with no condom.

I was making the point as a smoker i'm immune to the smell of smoke but have a sharp sense for other odours.

@RubMyRhubarb - you'll see, very clearly that I haven't said smoke needs to be forcefully blasted onto people.

No, but you have claimed that smoke cannot be transferred from the clothing of a smoker to other clothing.

Of course kids bullshit their parents. Only an idiot would think they don't. With my first day (as I have stated previously, there are two ds), my first presumption was that he was smoking. However, after I finally met the tutor and smelt him and the room after the class, I had no trouble believing my son's story.

Equally with ds2, the smell was faint and I found out afterwards from another parent that the driver smokes in the car but not with the kids in it.

of course MN posters know if an anonymous child is smoking , not the childs own mother 🙄

of course MN posters know if an anonymous child is smoking , not the childs own mother

So we don't go by what's being said and the information given and form an opinion based on that then, no?

I thought the boy was smoking as well.

@theymademejoin

No, but you have claimed that smoke cannot be transferred from the clothing of a smoker to other clothing

No, I haven't claimed that either. What I've done is question the extent to which this is possible and asked how long it would take for this to happen. In fact it was YOU that I asked! Being skeptical about a claim is not the same as denying that claim.

And to be honest, the OP's claim is positively believable when compared to yours (that being that just being in the same room as a smoker, who isn't smoking, makes your children stink)

I thought the boy was smoking as well

Either he is, or he's kickin it with buddies who do. Either of those explanations is more than sufficient and far more plausible than the "he was in the same room as a smoker for a bit even though they weren't touching" thing.

YANBU. Smells (such as fag smoke and perfume) do transfer to fabric, so if her coat is touching yours it can end up smelling of smoke. I once hugged a man who was wearing aftershave and my clothes ended up smelling of it! I can't imagine he sprayed it over his clothes, but maybe he did

OP, as you've said she's got attitude and putting your coats on the back of your chairs isn't really an option because they'd drape on the floor, it's tricky one. Would you be able to move her coat so it's not so close to everyone else's, and if you could would it cause too much bad feeling? Problem is some smokers are really touchy about this subject and also don't realise how much they smell to non-smokers, so I wish you luck.

I remember a thread where a poster claimed her baby reeked of smoke after being held by someone who had had a cigarette several hours earlier.

@RubMyRhubarb - So we don't go by what's being said and the information given and form an opinion based on that then, no?

Given that you keep referring to son rather than sons, I don't think you are adequately reading the information given.

When I used to smoke at work I used to put my coat/fleece etc in a Bag for Life under my desk. I only realised it would have been really smelly when a new colleague who also smoked and must have never washed his coat anyway started hanging his up, it reeked.

@RubMyRhubarb - but the only time he smokes is between being dropped off at the door of the class and being picked up as he walks out the door of the class? Quite an achievement.

Given that you keep referring to son rather than sons, I don't think you are adequately reading the information given

It makes no difference because the explanation you offer is fundamentally the same in both cases (that being both of your sonS)

Feel free to make my lack of an 'S' the main focus of your replies, though.

I'd keep febreeze in my desk and spray her coat when shes not watching.

@HoHoHoHo

I remember a thread where a poster claimed her baby reeked of smoke after being held by someone who had had a cigarette several hours earlier

At least even that involves direct contact, close physical contact. Positively believable compared with this latest one!

What's next? My sister lives in a different county and is making my house stink of fags even though she's never been here?!

Honestly, Vlad nailed it on a previous page - utterly barking.

I'm not a smoker,therefore I am quite sensitive to the smell of other peoples' smoke. But even I struggle to understand how a coat that smells of smoke can transfer the smell onto other peoples' coats. When my Dd and son-in-law used to live with me,my son-in-law would come in from work,stinking of cigarette smoke,from smoking on his way home. He would hang his coat up next to mine and Dd's,and although I could smell the smoke on it when I walked past,I can honestly say that it never transferred itself onto anyone else's coat!

My MIL smokes and our sofa smells of stake smoke for several hours after she's been round (she smokes in the car on the way). Smokers don't seem to smell stale smoke, or it doesn't bother them. I would keep my own coat folded up on my desk if there wasn't anywhere else to keep it and avoid confrontation.