Nice huh?

I'm sure most of you have heard about how employers have been submitting random tests to make sure their employees are not smoking.

What? Not smoking on the job? Nope, that's not it. Surely... You can't mean... Yep, I surely do. Smoking at home! *gasp* The horrors!

If you smoke, you could be turned down for a job... You could be fired from your job. What the hell is going on here? The best part of this whole thing is: It's perfectly LEGAL! Now I could be wrong but I'm pretty sure this is a violation of Amendment 14 to some extent.

Amendment XIV Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

See and that's where we encounter a problem... What they're doing isn't against the law because there isn't any law to prohibit it! As far as I'm concerned, it's violating our personal freedom. It's like they're saying "Hey, since you work for me, I can control every aspect of your life. What are you going to do about it?"

Now some people don't view this as to big of a threat. They're like: "Hmm... quit smoking or lose my job? That's not a tough one, hand me a nicotine patch." I sympathize. I'm a mother, I got a family to support. BUT, if we quit smoking (which is a relatively minor thing) what's next?

Remember, the little things add up. Give in to this and next, well... Just imagine. If your boss can tell you to quit smoking when you're off the clock, next he could be telling you, "Make sure you wear your work clothes 24/7, we want to make a good impression all the time." Or "By the way, I heard you had plans to go to some amusement park with your kids this weekend. Cancel, you'll give an impression that we're not serious enough."

Don't think so? Why not? If they can tell you, you HAVE to quit smoking, you can bet your ass they can and will tell you what you can or should I say, can't do.

Hmmm... what's next? I know, some big major retail store heads are going to say, "Since you work here, guess what? You got to do all your shopping here too! Never mind that it might be cheaper to do your shopping elsewhere. Don't like it? Oh well! You either shop here or... Your fired!"

Have a nice day and remember: If you let this one minor issue slide, next time, it's going to be something major.