[BluegrassScholar]

Ooohhh...this could be a fun thread. Freepers...please share horror stories about stinky coworkers

[Gabz]

My only bad experience with a co-worker was at my first job in radio. He was nice enough, but was about 5'3" and weighed well over 300lbs. There was not one DJ at either the AM or FM station that wanted to man the booth after this guy finished his shift.cans of Lysol and deodorant left in the studios were met by him with oblivion - he had no clue. And no one had the cojones to say anything to his face about it.

He got a clue shortly after he started helping out in the news department when we were a person short. One day he complained to the other newsperson about the ashtray in there and actually brought in a portable smoke eater. I had no problem with the thing because it actually removed much of the stench of his BO from the room, but was a bit torqued about the fact he only complained about smoking in the news room and not any of the other studios.

One day he made a serious mistake - he demanded I stop smoking in the newsroom. I let him have it with both barrels about what everyone else in the entire place was putting up with him and his poor hygiene. He truly had no clue why there was always Lysol, Air Freshener and deodorant cans in all the studios. I became a hero at the station because his hygiene improved immensely following that altercation.........and I continued to smoke in the news room!!!

What was really and truly sad, was that his wife and 7 kids all had equally poor hygiene. At the time he was studying to become a minister and left the radio station about 6 months later.....I always prayed that his congregation would not have to suffer what we did at the radio station.

[Mr. Bird]

Unfortunately, options for dealing with them are awkward

I'm still searching for a link, but I'm pretty sure someone set up an electronic B.O. notification site. You just provide the recipient's email address and they get a nice message that says, to the effect, "a good friend of yours wanted to pass along the information that you are emitting some pretty bad body odor; you may want to take steps to eliminate it."

It's a great idea. You could also print this thread out and leave it on the offender's desk, if necessary.

[KosmicKitty]

I have really bad asthma, had it all my life. Certain perfumes can cause my broncial tree to go haywire and close off tight.

Not fun to end up in the emergency room because of the old lady two people behind you at the grocery store checkout.
:-(

[CobaltBlue]

I have a client, a nice old lady who is getting gaga, who doesn't have a phone, so I have to go to her house to work on her case. She has a dog that she lets pee everywhere, and two cats whose litter box she never cleans, and there are dirty dishes and dirty clothes everywhere. Sad thing is, her daughter, who is mentally competent, lives with her but won't lift a finger to do housework, so bringing in the county wouldn't work.

Whenever I visit her and then leave, it feels like my skin is saturated with the aroma down to the pores, and my hair smells like it, too.

[CobaltBlue]

Just remembered one I had suppressed -- I once had a boss with rotten teeth. Many, many rotten teeth. Black, with gigantic holes. Talk about horrible breath!

I was new and being trained, and spent a lot of "face time" with him.I had to quit after two weeks, I couldn't take it.

[WL-law]

Larry Isaacson sounds mentally ill to me.

[Species8472]

I have been in the fire service for 29 years and over that time I have learned to deal with "odors" from patients and victims. Use a cheap surgical mask and run a bead of "Vicks Mentholatum" across thew inside of the mask. This will even kill the smell of a body decomposing for weeks in a warm environment!

Good Luck

[bvw]

The bigger problem is that sir-exchange systems -- that is, the ventilation part of HVAC -- are poorly designed in many buildings and atrociously maintained in more.

There is a simple measure of indoor air quality. It is carbon DIOXIDE level. When that is as good or better than as 1.5xambient things are okay. Many modern office buildings hae ratios far higher than that. Sick air. Not just stinky.

When the ratio is 1.25 X ambient or better -- the air is fresh. People don't complain.

[petercooper]

I once had to ask a temp not to cough with her mouth open. Hacked all the time. Got her reassigned to another area real quick.

[reformedliberal]

1) We live in Hippie Valley. But one case stands out: a young woman who didn't bathe, ate a lot of garlic and used a lot of patchouli. If she stood somewhere for a few minutes, you could ID her by passing the area even 10 minutes later. The smell just lingered. This once happened in the grocery store near the freezers. I ran into a pool of her odor, looked around and yep, she was up at the checkout.

2) I am a massage therapist. We have Amish clients. Some are simply fine and some are barbaric. I have had to work people's backs with my head averted. Obviously, they neither use TP nor wash their butts.

3) Relaxation will result in people passing gas. This is just a fact and we simply deal with it. Shallow mouth breathing helps. One does acclimate to an odor in a short period, if it is not refreshed, so that helps, as well. I keep some peppermint oil in a discrete place and will dab a tiny bit just beneath my nose. This helps a lot.

I love perfume, but don't wear any except rarely for special occasions. I never know what will offend a client. For the same reason, we avoid *aromatherapy*. One person's therapeutic aroma is another person's migraine trigger, or worse. One exception: lying face down for 1/2 hr will cause the nasal membranes to swell in many people. This makes it very uncomfortable to breath thru the nose. I keep a bottle of eucalyptus oil on hand and open it and give it to the person to sniff if they are having a problem. It will clear their sinuses and it isn't diffused thruout the room. We also do not use scented detergent or scented dryer sheets on the linens.

On busy days, we try and schedule at least 15 minutes between clients, so we can air and deodorize the clinic room. The *Neutra-Air* type air fresheners really seem to work. I can spray, open window, turn on a fan and come back in 5 minutes and there is no discernible odor.

There are a lot of folks who do not react well to scent. My husband cannot walk into a bath and body shop without almost passing out & getting a headache. After a decade of having to avoid scent, even passing thru the toiletries aisle at the store can be distasteful. We limit garlic in our diets for the same reason and have become almost hypersensitive to it. I will use roasted garlic from a jar in tiny quantites in some dishes. It is sweeter and I don't have to fill the house with the odor of cooking garlic.

[muslims=borg]

I never understood why people wear cologne or perfume. Take a damn shower then they wouldn't have to cover themselves in perfume. Why should I be forced to smell someone's horrible perfume all day at work? That stuff gives me migraines.

[Petronski]

Heavy perfume/fragrance makes my throat burn and nose run...and there doesn't seem to be any exception to that rule.

But I'm self-employed, so it isn't often an issue.

[cyborg]

Perfume smells give me peanuts and bee sting like reactions.

[MarkL]

Well, I don't know if we're supposed to tell on ourselves, but here goes...

Many years ago, there was this wonderful, little greasy burger joint on Troost in Kansas City named "Wimpy's." They were closed Tuesdays, btw... If you remember the old Popeye's Comics character: "I will gladly pay you Tuesday, for a hamburger today!"

Anyway, they had this wonderful Italian Steak sandwich. I used to order it with double sauce and tripple onions! For the next two days, the smell of the sauce and onions would just come out of your pores! No matter how many showers you took, you still smelled that way! lol

Mark

[Twinkie]

I have only two words for ya'll - LILAC VEGETAL.