I've been totally stressed out since I got this email from what I thought was going to be a great job for me...accounting and tech support with an IT outsourcing company, everything was going great and insync with the owner, it was in Walnut Creek, the pay was good, their CPA is a friend of mine, everything until this email I got yesterday:
I am so sorry to bring this question so late in the process but are you a smoker? If you are we are about to have some series problems and I would hate to get into this process and have issues about it later when we can not change things. I spoke to the CPA and she did not stop to rave about you so I am really excited about your technical abilities and your accounting abilities but smoking is beyond my ability to pass on. It is very hard for me to have conversations and enjoy to be among smokers because of the nicotine smell. I would hate to loose you but this is one thing I can not pass on.
I worried about it all night, thinking maybe I could quit smoking in the next 3 days..I've been smoking since I was 15..over 15 years, I've tried to quit with the patch, with the gum, with the steriods, with the anti-depressants, cold-turkey, you name it. My doctor suggested hypnotism, which I am going to try as soon as I can afford to do it.
Anyways, I called my mom and started crying because I was so stressed out that I was going to lose a perfect job for me because I can't quit smoking in 3 days. And being so stressed out and turning it inwards was making me sick..hence, I started smoking again today.
So I responded back to the guy with this: I want to be honest with you and have been trying to decide how to answer your question all night, stressing over the answer however I don't want to lie to you and I don't want to lose a great opportunity that I am very excited about because I smoke. I am a smoker that has been trying to quit for the last year or so and this is a great incentive to finally quit once and for all. I can promise you that I will not smoke during the day while at work. I ask that you give me a chance to show you my superior technical and accounting abilities as just a person who really wants to work for you
i'm still stressed about this and pretty much know the outcome is that I don't get the job and I've never had a job opportunity pass me by because I am a smoker and I guess I've never met someone that if whether or not you smoke is a deciding factor on performance and it all seems pretty superficial to me. And also I'm thinking what happens if he does smell smoke on me because I'm dating someone that smokes, do I lose my job? What happens if I get so stressed out that I start smoking again, do I lose my job?
just wondering, has anyone ever come across this before? Is this discrimination?
so back to the drawing board on job hunting...
6:24:32 PM 
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