Secondly, because that other post wasn't enough...

You know, people - including Australians - often have this image of us as a laid-back, happy-go-lucky nation, laconically replying, "No worries" and "She'll be right" to most situations. And good for us, I say. But all play and no work makes Jack a mere toy and it isn't too hard to see that what we need is some balance. And thanks to the wowsers that populate this country we get that balance.

Wowsers. A band of people who live in permanent, whimpering fear that, at any given moment, somewhere out there someone is having a good time.

And so it is with smokers. Particularly smokers who get under everyone's skin by holding down a job.

I'm not a smoker and it's certainly not a habit I endorse. On the other hand, I also don't look upon each and every smoker amongst us as evidence that the Anti-Christ is about to cast his long shadow across the land.

But I was fascinated to learn yesterday that a recent poll has shown that many Australian workers think their fellow smoking-employees should be forced to make up the time they lose while taking smoke breaks. Some thin-lipped bint was even quoted as saying, "Some of these people take as many as 3 or 4 breaks a day."

Well hells bloody bells! That got me thinking.

All day I'm surrounded by people who shirk their duties & I want something done about it. See, I don't drink tea or coffee - I think I'm going to get a bit irate about these bloody malingerers who drink multiple beverages through the day and use it as an excuse to take a break. Back to work, you lazy gits! People who drink coffee are the worst - man, they stink. You get near someone who has just had a coffee and you can smell it all over them. It's even worse when they have a mint to try to cover it up. I give them a look to let them know I think they're nothing better than a mongrel dog & that their odour is repugnant to me. By crikey, that should make them think twice the next time they go on a caffeine binge.

And I don't follow the footy - what about all these people who reserve Mondays and Fridays for chatting about the games that have been and the games coming up, effectively defrauding their employer who isn't paying them to engage in idle chit chat! But my biggest gripe is with people who actually have a life and expect to engage me in conversation about the things we do outside work. What the hell has that got to do with getting that important discussion paper done?? The world is ending; only our eternal unwavering diligence can save us now.

What I want to see is scabby noses pressed firmly to the grindstone. And I don't want to see them move - unless, of course, they're being poked into someone else's business.