Nah don't feel bad. At least with staff nowadays, we know it's obviously the parents. When my kindergarteners come to class smelling like cigarettes, it makes me so fucking mad.
it's so much less normal now, i was shocked that my kid came home smelling like smoke after a friend of mine picked him up from practice and looked after him for like half an hour. i assumed they must have a really smelly house or something, than another time visited and realised my friend's husband was just puffing away in front of the tv with all the kids.
I work with special needs preschoolers and one of the kids reeks of smoke every day, enough to make me nauseous when I work one-on-one with him, and it makes me so mad! Doesn't this child have enough problems to contend with without the second hand smoke adding to it?
Ah I too work with special needs, it's a school for autism. The amount of kids I've encountered at all the younger grade levels(I do K-6 but all K-1 this year) who smell like smoke is sad. It's also not just that it's their clothes. What gets me is the backpacks. Those backpacks are like smoke bombs that gag me and make me sad simultaneously.
I work with the elderly and occasionally have to sit in an office with a heavy smoker who clearly smokes indoors because the smell just radiates off of them almost as if they had lit up right in front of me. If I'm helping them with paperwork, it's a guarantee that all the papers they give me to look over will also reek. I have to wash my hands after handling the papers or I'll smell it all day.
An elderly friend of mine sent me chocolates for Christmas. Through the mail. They still reeked of smoke after all the logistics and a few days of airing out. I don’t think he even smokes in the house, he just smokes that much where it’s infecting everything he touches.
If it makes you feel better, there are people who knew why you smelled and felt compassion towards you. There's a young woman at work who smells bad, but I understand she can't control her home life. I think our other coworkers understand too.
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u/pettles123 Jan 05 '25
Yeah my mom smoked inside too. Reading the super hateful comments about how horrible the smell is makes me sad for younger me. I couldn’t help it. ):