Was I The Victim Of Discrimination?

So last week I was shopping for a hotel room close to the area I'm working in. I happened upon a decent looking place and walked into the lobby to inquire about their prices and find out if they rented rooms by the week. The guy behind the counter said that the only room he had available at the weekly rate was a non-smoking room, and since he saw me dispose of my cigarette butt in the ashtray outside of the lobby, he couldn't rent that room to me. He said I could rent a smoking room by the night until a weekly smoking room became available, but I'd have to pay full price for those nights, and guess what... smoking rooms are an additional 15 bucks.

So first off, I don't even smoke in my own house because its a nasty habit and it stinks up the place. Second, I NEVER rent smoking rooms because THEY SMELL LIKE SH!T! I smoke outside, like all good little smokers should. So I basically told this guy to shove it, and wound up renting a non-smoking room just a few blocks from there.

So my question to you all is this... was that discrimination, or was it not?

They sometimes charge extra for additional options like being able to smoke in a room. Insurance costs probably.

a reply to: Bone75

I don't know if it is discrimination but it is something!
That is total bull. Should of asked to see the written policy if he refused you the room based on "policy".
Had plenty of jobs tell me to use that word very lightly cause the customer has the right to call you out on that. Maybe CA is different tho.
A non-smoking room just means you can't smoke in it, not that you can't rent it if you smoke!

a reply to: stormcell

What does that have to do with what OP is saying? He didn't want a smoking room and I don't blame the OP.
Those rooms are disgusting

originally posted by: Sremmos80

A non-smoking room just means you can't smoke in it, not that you can't rent it if you smoke!

That's exactly how I felt about the situation, and this happened in Houston btw (which might as well be CA).

Don't worry, it wont be long now until there is a total ban on smoking tobacco.

Hell yes thats discrimination! You should still be able to get a non smoking room if you are a smoker! Obviously it applies to the room itself not the guest! thats crazy! I smoke but like yourself only outside and i wouldn't smoke in a hotel room where im going to sleep. All hotels that i have stayed at here (Australia) don't have smoking rooms its just standard policy in the big hotels that you don't smoke in them they are smoke free zones like most entrances too them and most resteraunts, taverns etc here so if that were right and they dont give non smoking rooms too smokers then i guess alot of smokers wouldnt be staying at hotels anymore anywhere. The guy sounds like he was just being a douche i am glad you chose somewhere else to stay i would have done the same thing. And what a stalker he was watching you put your cig out Before you even entered? Weirdo!

People who are avid non smokers can smell smoke a mile away. Even if you didn't smoke in the room directly, the smell from your clothes might leech in to the walls and carpet. They do this so that the hard core anti-smokers can't pinch a fit and cause them a ton of grief. I used to smoke and since quitting I have come to realize just how pervasive cigarette smoke can be. Smoking dulls your sense of smell, so you don't notice it, but non-smokers do.

All and all though, discrimination or not, smokers are not a protected class, and its the right of the business to decide who to rent their rooms to.

originally posted by: stormcell
They sometimes charge extra for additional options like being able to smoke in a room. Insurance costs probably.

Okay, I'm willing to accept that as justification for the additional fee, but I wasn't looking for a smoking room to begin with.

originally posted by: xDeadcowx

All and all though, discrimination or not, smokers are not a protected class, and its the right of the business to decide who to rent their rooms to.

Shouldn't we ALL be a protected class? Isn't that the foundation of equality?

a reply to: Bone75
This whole post has been on how you despise smoking.
Why not just give up the habit?

a reply to: Bone75

There would be infinite classes to protect, good and bad. The reason some classes are protected is because they are the ones being unfairly discriminated against.

If every class was protected, that would include bigots, drunks and people who haven't showered in a year.

The currently protected classes are groups of people that have no control over what they are (with the possible exception to creed, but that's a different story). Race/skin color, disabilities, age, sex, sexual orientation, etc are all things people have no control over. Being a smoker, being a bigot, refusing to bathe, these are all things people are doing willingly and the owners do, and should continue to have the right to refuse service.

Yes I think you were.

The first modern anti-smoking laws were probably dreamt up by some Nazis for Hitler (who was an ex-smoker), and although his generals persuaded him to forgo a tobacco-free army, it was in the pipeline for their post-war plans.

I'm all for having smoke-free zones and establishments, but when the smoke doesn't provably bother anybody then the debate moves from proof to prejudice.

Nobody has the right to "clean" air, or don't start a car or a jet, or allow a barbeque or wood-fire.
In fact don't use chemical paints on the walls, and some people get sick from perfumes.

A certain amount of inter-civic tolerance is to be expected.

So yes, I think you were a victim of discrimination.

However, since smoking is really being nailed after some very thin activism by self-proclaimed "comic book heroes", and we must all kneel to their fascism, I don't think one can really do much about it.

Actually I don't think this would qualify as discrimination exactly because smoking is a personal choice for one to engage in rather than something they can't control.

Although since it is a choice and you chose to NOT smoke in the room that should have been the end of it at that point which in a way makes it discrimination based upon you just being a smoker in general. Denying you the room at that point I think is wrong because you are then in compliance with their rules and they still decided to treat you differently.

a reply to: Bone75

Let me pose this question to you, if you're driving down the street and you pick up a hitchhiker and this guy has the God awful nasty smelling farts, and he just ate hard boiled eggs, beer, with a slather of sriracha. You felt as if you needed a gas mask with the windows down doing 60 MPH, is he in or out? Protected or no protection?

This is my hypothetical you have to pick him up. Can't say no I don't pick up hitchhikers. I am not saying cigarette smoke is this way, I am a ex cigarette smoker myself. Just asking should he be protected?

I can tell you with all certainty if it was me, he would be walking if I had to buy him a new pair of sneakers.

a reply to: Bone75

No you were not a victim.

Peace

originally posted by: muSSang
Don't worry, it wont be long now until there is a total ban on smoking tobacco.

Negatory. There's too much tax revenue in tobacco. Addicts are much too easy of targets for the government to cut them off and stop taking advantage of them.

As the OP noted, they charge more for a smoking room. Tobacco addicts are taken advantage of by everyone, not just the state. No one really wants to stop that gravy train.

Frankly, it's despicable.

a reply to: Bone75

Well Bone75, that depends on a number of factors.

If hotel policy dictates that smokers must rent a smoking room, and if one is seen smoking a cigarette, then one is precluded from renting a non-smoking room, then the hotel managers hands are tied. As questionable as any such policy might be, unless you want to get a lawyer involved, it is largely moot if there is an actual hotel policy covering the specific circumstance.

However, if this was simply a matter of the fellow being a jackass about it, and not being willing to accept that being a smoker does not mean smoking inside, then that is a different issue. If he is not backed by hotel policy on this matter, then I guess you might be able to look into making a complaint, and making the area manager of the chain (if indeed this place was part of a larger organisation) aware that his underlings are loosing them money!

a reply to: Bone75

Technically it might have been a little discrimination involved, but here's the thing, you're a smoker so its totally acceptable. If you were black/gay/whatever and the guy refused you a room you could raise holy hell about it and folks would totally be on your side. Non-smokers mostly see smokers as total idiots that willingly pay top dollar to poison themselves and smell like an ashtray all the time. So there's always going to be a little bit of a "I'm better than you becasue I don't smoke" attitude with the non smoker crowd.

I see it everywhere nowadays. Even if you're outside they have smoke free zones all over the place and you have to be 50 ft. away from public entrances if you have a smoke in your hand. Even all of the bars and restaurants you cannot smoke in which is silly to me because people that don't even smoke regularly smoke when they drink.

So if you choose to smoke you might as well be prepared to get hated on by non-smokers. It is what it is.

I don't know if that qualifies as discrimination, however I have a different take on the smell of smoking than the other ex smokers here. I quit smoking 2 years ago, when I quit,it wasn't because I had breathing our scent problems it just got to expensive. I had heard stories of how your breathing improves and how your sense of smell gets more sensitive, but like I said , I didn't have breathing problems when I quit, and I didn't notice my breathing improve after a couple of months like everyone says. As well, my sense of smell didn't become ultra sensitive like other people. It's only occasionally that the smell of smoke bugs me, and I don't think it's the tobacco smell that irritates me, it's more of a chemical smell that irritates me as though I'm smelling some of the chemicals that they add into the tobacco. But as to the discrimination issue, if the guy actually said to you that he's not supposed to rent you a non smoking room, because he witnessed you smoking, this may be a company policy that employees are expected to follow. Like an earlier poster said, if that happened you should have asked to see a copy of the companies policy on that issue, but it does seem to be standard operating procedure at hotels.