DEAR ANNIE: I recently started a new job that I genuinely like. The people are friendly (mostly), the work is interesting and I finally feel like I may have found a place where I can stay for the long haul. But there is just one problem, and it is a big one.

The woman who sits at the reception desk smokes like a chimney, and the smell does not just stay with her. It seeps into every corner of the front office, down the hallway and right into the waiting area. By the time I get home, my lungs feel like I have run a marathon through a bonfire. I have asthma, and I end most days with congestion, a runny nose and let us just say tissues full of proof that secondhand smoke does not have to be visible to do damage.

It is not just me. One of the girls in the back agrees the odor is awful, but everyone else seems to have developed either stronger noses or weaker standards. I have tried fighting back with a little aromatherapy warfare: a diffuser loaded with eucalyptus oil. Instead of soothing the space, though, the combination of menthol and cigarette now smells like someone lit a smoke in a sauna.

To complicate things, this co-worker is … let us call her “seasoned.” She has been there for years, she has a mouth sharp enough to cut glass and, frankly, she does not have the cleanest reputation. I am the new kid. The last thing I want to do is march into the manager’s office and risk being seen as the delicate complainer who cannot hack it. But my lungs are screaming for backup.

Do I suffer in silence, keep drowning the place in eucalyptus, or risk the wrath of the veteran receptionist and bring this to management?

• Breathless But Trying

DEAR BREATHLESS: You are not imagining things. Cigarette smoke lingers like glitter at a 3-year-old’s birthday party. Once it is there, it clings to everything. For someone with asthma, that is more than just unpleasant. It is a real health concern.

And let us be fair. People have every right to smoke if that is their choice. You are not trying to change anyone’s habits. What you are asking for is simply to get through your workday without coughing, wheezing or feeling like you walked through a bonfire. That is a reasonable request.

Since the eucalyptus experiment turned your office into something between a spa and a smokehouse, it may be time to go to management.

Frame it gently: “I have asthma, and the odor is triggering my symptoms. Is there a way we can improve the air flow or address this?” That keeps the focus on your health rather than putting a spotlight on your co-worker.

You like this job, and it shows. Protecting your ability to breathe comfortably is not being dramatic. It is being practical. Let the boss carry this one, and give yourself permission to breathe easier.

Follow Annie Lane on Instagram at @dearannie

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