Bus Captain's Grivences - Smoke and Smoker

By now, I can assume myself as a down-stream Smoker.

Almost 85% of the Bus Captain cohort (Male and Female, local or Foreign) is a smoker. Such is the environment that I am exposed to daily. During each bus service trip interval; I very often will bounce into a small group of BC smoking their heart out; their action can be equated to a successful sortie that have just defeated the charging enemy.

My observation is that, for those BC on short feeder service type; with some 12 round trips per shift; those BC will smoke at least 12 stick per shift work. I guess they will smoke the whole bag of cigarette by the end of the day (i.e 20 sticks). For those on long haul bus service type, for example service 858 (about 180mins per trip); will usually, give themselve 2-3 shots to get mentally high, before cranking the bus engine.

Since I am just a junior colleague to them; attempt to talk sense to those 20years of hardcore BC smoker; on the impact of health issue, is like talking straight to the earless wall. I can fully understand their addiction to nicotine. This drug helps them to be “mentally alert” for the next sortie, so to speak. Without it, potential accident or passenger mishap will probably happen.

I still remember, how management was trying to put up warning poster to remind them not to smoke around the time-keeper’s office, along the aisle of the parking bay and toilet; once, I overhead a remarks, from one of the smoker by saying, “you can put up yours, I will continue to smoke mine”!!

At time I am deemed anti-social by my fellow colleagues; as I will hide and lock myself up inside the bus just to avoid all those sinking downstream harmful smoke.

If I truly, wish to have a discussion or conversation with those smokers, I have no choice but to bear with it.

I hope that I will not suffer any disease related to down-stream smoke (i.e. lung cancer), and will not get hooked onto nicotine and becomes a smoker myself one day. If so, this is the most unfortunate event or thing that could happen to me by choosing this new career.

When I was growing up, the family has to put up a struggle with my father; a smoker. It is my mother that provides all those defensive power and safety net to us all. To protect us from the harm of the downstream smoke, breathe out by my father; very often, she will raise her voice and ask my father to get his butt out of the house to smoke. Fortunately, my Family does have good blessing; the ending is pretty good; somehow, my father automatically stopped smoking at the age of 55.

I sincerely do not want to end my working adult life in this manner of been a smoker myself. Hell No.