The Stink, It Burns!

[raudf]

At one of the grocery stores I was at, there was a guy in front of me who smelled like the cross of a very ripe sun-ripened skunk and a cat litter box that hadn't been changed in months. Both the poor cashier and I were holding our breaths, eyes watering, until another cashier came over with the fabreeze. She promptly walked in front of me to the exit, spraying vanilla scent, which barely avoided becoming vanilla scented skunk litter... Yeah, the stink was that strong.

There was two entrances and only one exit, so I had to "follow" the odor.. *gags thinking about it* Needless to say, I was very grateful for the fabreeze and got myself a bottle for general use around the house.

[suburbandecay]

I had a truck driver roll in one afternoon that smelled of equal parts "I've been marinating in my BO for months" and "I smoke like a chimney with the windows in the truck shut". He was damn near making me gag across 15 feet of office. When I opened my window to air out (thank $DEITY my office windows opened), I realized the stench was a team effort (two drivers, the other was unhooking the trailer). I don't know how you could live in that stench by yourself, let along with someone else too.

[Lachrymose]

ETA: broken link..don't feel like fixing.

[mharbourgirl]

Quoth suburbandecay

I don't know how you could live in that stench by yourself, let along with someone else too.

It's really no different than how someone doesn't realize they've marinated in perfume. The olfactory sense stops sending alerts to the brain after a while. They can't actually smell themselves, that's the scary part.

[KellyHabersham]

Quoth emax4

Since some of them are quite aware of how bad they smell, I wonder how many of them would be offended if you blatantly took Glade over and sprayed it right by them. If they get mad, it's not your fault. You're just looking out for your comfort and the comfort of other patrons.

Or they might not even notice it - we had an incident once at the library where a then-coworker had to spray air freshener around someone who was using one of the public computers.......this being because people sitting around this woman were complaining. (meanwhile, the customer in question did not notice anything)

[downforit2008]

All cashiers should have air fresheners at their registers for incidents like this! Or body spray to spray on the customer who smells like this themselves. To hell with their reactions because I'm sure you don't feel like having anyone drop dead from their smell, most of all yourself!