Scent-Sensitive Work Environments

[Nystul]

I TA'd for this professor in my department once, and the whole fucking semester I had to deal with his fucking neurosis. See, supposedly years ago he was involved in some kind of lab accident that affected his respiratory system. Problem is, no one believes it. To make things worse, his wife, who is old like he is, would show up to classes as well and even though she wasn't in the lab with him for the accident SHE believes she has the same respiratory problem. So they both roll into class with these fucking masks over their faces looking like a hazmat team. The wife would gripe to people around her that had perfume on. They told the TA's that they couldn't wear anything- not like...a modest amount but actually no smells at all- including deodorant (none of us obeyed this). They did not allow anyone in the first 3 rows to have permanent markers. They got the TA's to do all the photocopying because he insisted the chemical smell bothered him too much. I think it was just an excuse to get the TA's to do it.

This cocksucker wrote a 10 page final exam for a class of 200 people that was ALL FUCKING ESSAY. If you're not in the know, final exams typically have a 48hr turnover period. While I've dealt with essay exams during the semester, we have a week to get the grading done. For a final, typically the TA's proctor the exam, and then go to a room and grade it immediately. Each person gets a set of questions and they grade that set on every exam. We went to a nice comfy room to start grading and the prof shows up. He complains that the air in the room isn't good, so he asks us to move to the basement to the teaching lab, where instead of nice tables and comfy chairs, we have wooden stools and lab benches. Then, after two hours, he stands up, says "the air in here isn't good, I have to go home." He doesn't take any exams to grade. He basically did like 15 exams, we had to do what he didn't. We graded in that room for fucking 8 hours, then another 3 the next morning.

A few years ago, just before he retired, the U of Md system asked him to teach a summer class at a campus in Frederick, Md. He said he would, but he had a stipulation. No shit, he flatly writes to the department chair "I'll teach the class, however, the commute along I270 in the summer will bother my respiratory conditions. If you can get the State to stop spraying herbicides and pesticides along that interstate for the summer, I'll be happy to teach the class."

Anyway, it's not that I'm not sympathetic to people with issues, I understand it. But this guy was just exploiting it and being a neurotic bitch and I hate him. <_< Carry on.

[Brill Weave]

That guy needs shot in the face.

[Howard Roark]

It's guys like that who make my boss think I'm a weirdo put that dude and his wife in a bubble like the bubble kid from seinfeld and promptly fill it with chanel no. 5 kthx

And Asy, yeah the one at Queen and Yonge is especially bad, my eyes are literally burning just thinking about it

The one at sherway isn't too bad, Fairview is passable but I'm telling you that Queen one is like a gauntlet for the senses

[Elesirdur]

Oh yeah, to compound the problem, I've noticed a disturbingly large section of the Indian population are A-OK with horrific B.O. Newsflash: YOU SMELL LIKE FUCKING SHIT YOU NASTY DIRTY INDIAN DICKHEADS. Take a shower and use some goddamned deodorant!

Wow you just found out indians stink?

Seriously not even trying to be funny here, my school had a large population of indians and fijians and DEAR GOD they don't believe in smelling nice, not for any occasion, they just smelt of stench and putrid all the time.

The worst part of it is, the Fijian dudes loved to play football on the breaks anytime they could, and Australia's public school system doesn't enforce the whole showering thing after gym So if they played football early on, say goodbye to an easy stomach.

No fucking kidding. There's a pretty significant Indo-Canadian population in Victoria, including a lot of recent immigrants and first-generation Canadian children/young adults. Back when I delivered pizza there were some apartment buildings that just reeked of curry smell all the time. Last summer while looking for a new apartment, I actually turned down one awesome place (which is fucking insane in a city with less than a 0.5% vacancy rate) because the previous Indo tennants must have stewed up curry 24/7.

Although, people do have BO based on what they eat. I always thought Asians had a generally sweet and sour (no pun intended) smelling funk, but the Indos just take the cake for serious rank. I can't even imagine how horrific a public bus in Mumbai or New Dehli must smell during late August. I pretty much think I would just retch on the spot.

Try working construction where 90% of the guys over 35 believe 1 shower a week is plenty and sweat will mask the smell. Send your smelly office people our way PLEASE :D

Having just started working in construction myself I can attest to this. Construction workers, or really any modern laborers for that matter, have a very unique blend of sweat, coffee, and cigarette odour about them (hell, I know I do when I get home but at least I have a shower first thing upon getting back to my apartment every day after work)

[Nystul]

Most people from India or surrounding (that were raised there and moved here) smell because there is a difference in hygiene expectations. Here we shower every day. Many there do not. They'd look at us like a bunch of neurotic freaks. I saw this thing once published by the India tourism board for Indian people who were visiting AMerica and there was this discussion on how Americans are really into hygiene and how they suggest showering with soap daily and using deodorant daily to fit in. It's just cultural.

[Howard Roark]

I was this close to asking a afghani guy here at work about this, as I figured he, being rather into himself/an aspiring pretty boy, would not be a stink-offender, and that he might know of why and which cultures opt to stink.. but then I noticed his BO

so I'm still clueless as to WHY THE HELL MAN, WHYYYYYYYY