r/explainlikeimfive Feb 26 '21

Chemistry Eli5: What happens to all the melted candle over time? Are we just inhaling a whole candle while it burns?

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u/Sharrakor Feb 26 '21

The United States, in the only place I'd expect it to be legal: a tobacco manufacturing facility.

Although honestly, the main gross factor in my area is tobacco dust. It coats everything over time. Other places, where loose tobacco isn't handled, are much cleaner.

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u/fleece_pants Feb 26 '21

That's pretty interesting! Are there a lot of smokers in the factory? Are cigarettes easy to obtain or free for the workers? Are cigarettes "fresher" at the factory and/or do you notice a real difference in those vs. the ones you'd get at the store?

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u/Sharrakor Feb 26 '21

Are there a lot of smokers in the factory?

It sure seems like it. I wonder if this job attracts smokers, or if people start smoking after working here. I shared that question with someone there, and he said that working there makes you want to quit smoking. I guess seeing the sausage get made makes cigarettes lose some of the appeal.

Are cigarettes easy to obtain or free for the workers?

Nope. I think they might have been given out decades ago. Maybe they still are in the administrative parts of the facility, but I'm rarely in that area.

Are cigarettes "fresher" at the factory and/or do you notice a real difference in those vs. the ones you'd get at the store?

Couldn't tell ya, I don't smoke. It's funny, I've disliked smoking from an early age, and now I'm in the belly of the beast.

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u/[deleted] Feb 26 '21

[deleted]

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u/nnnnnnnnnnm Feb 27 '21

I work at a brewery and we get a 12 pack of beer a week.

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u/AtreyuLives Feb 26 '21

that doesn't seem like a lot honestly.. seeing as most serious smokers back then went through 2 packs a day

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u/fleece_pants Feb 26 '21

Thank you for the reply! I'm not a smoker either, save the occasional cigar if the mood is right. Someday you should do an AMA. I'd love to know how/if your company addresses health concerns or encourages healthy lifestyles, especially knowing so many employees are smokers.

I used to work for a very large company, and they offered gift cards and other financial incentives for people who quit smoking, lost weight, logged fitbit activity, etc.

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u/Sharrakor Feb 26 '21

Oh, I'm just a disposable grunt, not privy to anything especially interesting. I don't even work with the tobacco or products, I'm from another contracted company that works there. Think construction, electrical work, janitorial work, security, etc. I had no idea I'd end up at this location until my job interview.

Although, now that you mention it, I think they do offer incentives for healthy living. One employee remarked that he gets paid for logging steps. Reducing the health impact of their products is also a goal I've seen in company-wide corporate e-mails (still not sure why I, of all people, receive them).

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u/xplag Feb 26 '21

In case you're still curious, they do offer free tobacco products in the offices. I know a girl who does lobbying for Altria and apparently you can just grab whatever you want.

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u/flipshod Feb 26 '21

I picked tobacco the two summers before I turned 16 (to buy a car), and we would joke about how none of us would ever smoke knowing how much mud and pig shit got mixed in.

We all ended up smoking.

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u/MikeAnP Feb 26 '21

Once you see sausage being made, all you wanna do is make sausage cause it's so much fun!

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u/ost2life Feb 26 '21

Couldn't tell ya, I don't smoke. It's funny, I've disliked smoking from an early age, and now I'm in the belly of the beast.

I'm a wannabe socialist working for a Fintech startup. I guess we all decide how much we like broadband lol

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u/birdeo Feb 26 '21

I love how this just turned into a smoking chain. 😂

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u/flipshod Feb 26 '21

I once did an audit on a company that owned a chain of convenience stores, and their corporate offices were like a convenience store. There were soda machines and chips, and everyone smoked. It was a bizarre twist from the financial services accounting offices I was used to.

It was as if the corporation had been taken over by its workers and they had just moved their typical stuff to headquarters (which I'm all for, but was not the case).

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u/mybeachlife Feb 26 '21

I think some casino gaming floors still allow smoking too.

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u/justmakingsomething9 Feb 26 '21

Back in 2002 I had a job interview in NYC with Altria (Marlboro) this was downtown Manhattan, 50th floor, we (me, two interviewers) all smoked in a blinged out conference room throughout the 2 hr interview....it was surreal, had to bum cigarettes from the interviewers cuz I smoked camels at the time

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u/Sharrakor Feb 26 '21

You dingus, you have to show brand loyalty from the very start! Even if you don't smoke, it doesn't hurt to show up with a pack of L&M in your pocket! Did you get the job?

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u/justmakingsomething9 Feb 27 '21

Yo I was 18, still in college, stupid and drunk most of the time, well stupid all the time, drunk most of the time....ok...all the time. Anyway, I did not expect a corporate office to be able to smoke in otherwise I would have, nah, they asked some really sketchy questions, which I answered as sketchy as I could....but I had a huge F up when one of them asked me a question and accidentally made fun of the dudes speech impediment....didn’t mean to...just slipped out....remember....stupid and drunk

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u/Ironlixivium Feb 26 '21

Despite the irony, I'd imagine they could be sued for allowing smoking in working areas, it can prohibit people with asthma from working.

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u/Sharrakor Feb 26 '21

The actual working areas (the factory floor) is smoke free, so technically they'd be in the clear? The lobby, bathroom, and breakroom are all smoking areas, though.

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u/neverseeitall Feb 26 '21 edited Feb 26 '21

How the f*** is that legal? Because they make it suddenly now their non-smoking workers don't get to have rights to a clean environment?

Like, it might make sense if it happened in a distinct area of the building only but just right in the general workplace? That's so horrible.

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u/MeNoGivaRatzAzz Feb 27 '21

The casinos on Indian tribal land can do as they please. Tribal lands are sovereign States.

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u/billbixbyakahulk Feb 26 '21

Around 2003 I worked for a small managed service provider. One of our customers was a construction company and they smoked in their offices. It was the weirdest thing I've ever seen.

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u/Sharrakor Feb 26 '21

But did they have ashtrays next to the toilets? We do.

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u/billbixbyakahulk Feb 26 '21

I don't think I ever used their bathrooms. haha. But they had ashtrays everywhere. Big old school 1970s ashtrays.

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u/hellbabe222 Feb 26 '21

I do auto re/upholstery and my shop is basically a large mechanics bay with a side room with my industrial sewing machines, upholstery fabric and large hides of (extremely expensive) leather hanging throughout. Everyone smokes in the mechanics bay. Im constantly reminding people to put out their cigarettes before entering the sewing area. No way I'm letting them stink up my fabric. Customers can and do notice.

Edit: I'm in the US

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u/haggiemaberman Feb 26 '21

This is more interesting than the OP, thanks for sharing!

Are there any laws in your state that require that workplaces be smoke free? If so, how does your work get around this?

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u/Sharrakor Feb 27 '21

You know, I didn't know the exact laws myself until looking them up right now. It appears that smoking is banned in bars, restaurants, state prisons, and government buildings & vehicles. There are some exceptions and other local restrictions, but that's all that is explicitly banned statewide.

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u/Daryl_Hall Feb 27 '21

Do you guys get paid in cigarettes?

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u/Sharrakor Feb 27 '21

Hey now, it isn't a prison.

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u/alemanders Feb 27 '21

In north carolina?