Thank you for NOT smoking

And if you do smoke during office hours, I think you're wasting too much time.

The only half-decent more-an-excuse reason to smoke during office hours is to 'catch up on the buzz'. The argument usually put forward is that during the community-smoking sessions that happen, a lot of data and information is exchanged, which may come in handy at work.

But let's accept what these sessions really are.

1. An opportunity to 'network'. Yes, you do get to speak to people in an informal manner. But are you doing any good to your health? NO !!

2. A haven for people to take a break from work. Unfortunately, there's no time-limit to this. Plus, there's no limit to the number of cigarettes that you smoke. Add to that the infinite number of times you step out to take a break and you have almost a quarter of the working hours "going up in smoke".

3. A chance to poison co-workers who don't smoke through "passive smoking". Yes. Face it. It is a reality. And unfortunately, there's no escaping it. When the boss asks your colleague to step out "for a smoke", you know that he (your colleague, and in all probability, your top contender for that promotion you've been eyeing for months) just got a chance to get into the boss' good books. [If only I had a hundred bucks for every person who read this bit and went "Rachel" in his/her head...]

My solution:

Why don't we just have routine coffee/tea sessions? Say, post-lunch or from 4 to 4:15 every evening. Great excuse to:

a) Network
b) Take a break and assimilate your thoughts
c) Introduce a bit of personal time in your daily office hours ("Say, Sam, how was that book you finished reading last week?")

You think you have any other alternate solutions?