A short and sweet one before I go to my exams today. I drive the car in a car pool to uni. I usually have between 2 and 3 passengers. Most of the time it works well. We all know each other a bit, we get on well, and we’re all going in the same direction. For my passengers the car pool is cheaper than the bus, more convenient as I pick them up from home instead of the bus stop, and drop them at work or uni, it is warmer than the bus, they can chat with each other, they still get to look out the windows and on really cold days I’ve been known to bring hand warmers and home made egg and bacon rolls to warm us up before the heater kicks in. For me, it means they share the cost of fuel, which is pretty damn significant when you’re a uni student. As an added bonus, I have a lot of leeway when they can’t pay their share of fuel. One guy was getting worried because he was broke and could not afford to come into uni but I said I understand as long as he catches up next week. Mind you I don’t let them get away without paying full stop. I don’t want to be a push over.
The problem is that one of my car pool passengers smells bad. He’s a smoker, and despite being asked not to, he smokes before he catches the car pool. I can see him putting away his cigarette before he gets in some days. He really stinks the car up. Recently I’ve told him that he needs to make a decision, does he want to smoke before the ride, or does he want to ride in the car pool? Because as far as I’m concerned, the two are mutually exclusive.
I’m in two minds about this, on on hand I figure it’s his life, he has a right to smoke. But on the other hand it’s my car, and asking him not to smoke in the ten or so minutes before the ride isn’t that unreasonable. My other passengers have complained about the smell too. So, give him the flick and loose the much needed fuel money, or put up with this? I’m inclined to tell him he’s made his decision by smoking and that he’ll have to bus it instead.
I think I’m being reasonable, what do others think?
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