When Bruce Lee starts kicking...

[Trayol]

...move your nose out the way.

I swear I don't get it. What is wrong with college kids who lack the general concept of personal hygeine. Most of the people I've see on a regular basis are okay. But then there are those who somehow can't realize that the noxious fumes emitting from their person could easily kill a wildebeast.

Seriously, the water is free. Bathe yourselves.

[Sarlon]

WOOT!!! first post!!! anywho I know what you mean...I used to work at a convience store, and I'd get drunks (at 8am), college kids that are high (got a buzz from one one time just ringing him up), and thankfully njot to many homeless people. I live in a college town...seriously folks...if you are that smart...then you should know that soap and water...DO NOT DISOLVE THE SKIN!!! I promise myself this...

I'm one to talk sometimes, I have REALLY dry skin and taking a shower everyday dries it out worse, and sometimes when its just me alone at home on my weekends off, I don't shower and laze about the house...but I DO have the decency to clean up and possible shower (or put on deoderent at the very least) if I have to go out for even a quick run to the store.

[Trayol]

Being a guy, I too have gone days without bathing, but I never left the house into the public eye...well, nose.

[Sarlon]

LOVE the avatar btw...meet him one time a few years ago at a convention I went to...then again I met ALOT of people there....had drinks with all of them, and had lunch with Vic Mignoga (mostly famous for his voice acting as Edward Elric in Fullmetal alchemist...), Steve Blum was also there...

Anywho I digress...~wipes up drool from remembering steve blum~....I'm female...but I'm not your typical female...first...I'm a gamer...I don't wear makeup, I don't HAVE to have the latest trends in clothes, shoes, etc...my ideal clothes (when not working) are naked (if I'm home alone) or hugely over sized shirt and a pair of sweatpants. I'm mainly just one of the guys to most of my friends...hence why I'm single :P but I digress again...

Now I know from experience (a friend of mine actually) that sometimes offensive body odor can't be helped...a former friend of mine had a +10 continual epic funk of stankiness...(ok D&D nerd in me coming out), but no matter HOW often he showered and washed he just had that stink about him. no one can figure it out...not even the quacks...erm I mean dotors.

All i am saying is it can't be helped sometimes...

mmmm steve blum....holding me agianst his chest....~wanders off leaving a flood of drool behind me~

[Trayol]

<wipes some drool from the thread>

There is actually someone living on my floor who has one of those persistent odors that doesn't go away. His room mate, who is his best friend, even says he does smell. However, I think I'm the only person who doesn't smell it. Odd, I know.

[edible_hat]

I was about to start a new thread, but it seems I don't have to.

I had a customer shit his pants in the middle of a transaction today. All of a sudden there was this fart noise and a godawful stench which followed the customer out of the store. The worst part is he wasn't embarrassed, in fact he didn't even acknowledge that it had happened. No "pardon me" or anything!

[JessEm]

I had a customer shit his pants in the middle of a transaction today.

Um, that's really all I can think of to say. If that had been me, I think I would have left the country in embarrassment. That is, of course, if I hadn't died of shame on the spot.

[smileyeagle1021]

LOVE the avatar btw...meet him one time a few years ago at a convention I went to...

you've met Christopher Judge... you lucky SOB... is he as cool in person as on the series and on some of the interviews he's done?

I was about to start a new thread, but it seems I don't have to.

I had a customer shit his pants in the middle of a transaction today. All of a sudden there was this fart noise and a godawful stench which followed the customer out of the store. The worst part is he wasn't embarrassed, in fact he didn't even acknowledge that it had happened. No "pardon me" or anything!

oh, I wish I could say I didn't have a similar thing happen to me... I was at a craps table in Reno and a guy well... crapped (and not in the way that makes you a lot of money on the first roll).

[lordlundar]

first...I'm a gamer...

<grabs her and drags her over to the gaming thread>

Once you finish reading that, join in!

[Sarlon]

[QUOTE=smileyeagle1021;296125]you've met Christopher Judge... you lucky SOB... is he as cool in person as on the series and on some of the interviews he's done?

oh yeah...and hot DANG his voice....~melts into puddle of goo~ he couldn't make it to the cocktail party, but I did get to listen in on a few of the panels he did...

[TryNotToBeThatOne]

The first time that I went to Origins (big gaming con), a gaming company paid my fee & hotel. In return I ran demo games for them. There was one individual that when I ran a solo game, the company owner thanked me 'for taking one for the team'. When this person sat down I was profoundly thankful that the seat chosen was not right next to me. It was bad enough walking side by side to the gaming room; at least the moving air helped diffuse the aroma. [goes looking for a gas cloud emoticon]

[rvdammit]

Gamer soap

[chainedbarista]

we may want to take it beyond gamer soap for the more 'fragrant' of the odiferious (yes, there are degrees, sadly) into the realm of power washers.

we get that too; usually, they're smokers, sadly enough (i'm wondering if my nose isn't part dog nose, because i can sometimes make out the funk layers a little TOO well ), homeless or our 'special regional' types.

two words: BATHE NOW.

[XCashier]

I'm one to talk sometimes, I have REALLY dry skin and taking a shower everyday dries it out worse,

Olive oil or glycerine soaps are better than standard soaps at keeping skin from drying out. Here's a few I've tried:

http://www.kissmyface.com/olive_oil_bar_soap/
http://www.tomsofmaine.com/toms/dept.asp?dept%5Fid=200
http://www.clearlynaturalsoaps.com/

You can usually find these at any natural foods store (Trader Joe's, Whole Foods Market, Wild Oats, Market of Choice, etc.), in fact, those stores usually have at least one aisle of natural soaps, shampoos, toothpastes, deodorants and other toiletries. Granted, they're not as strong as Dial or other deodorant soaps, but they do get rid of dirt and crud and make a person smell much better than not bathing at all.

[LewisLegion]

Back to the origional topic, let me just say, that in a lot of cases...the odor is not due to laziness or obliviousness, but is fully intentional. This is a fairly common side effect of sexual abuse.

People who have been sexually abused tend to take two extremes...they either become fastidious about keeping themselves clean and good looking...or they become just as fastidious about NOT. In the mind of the former, they never feel clean so they become obsessive with showering and prettying themselves up in a desperate attempt to feel normal and worthy.

On the other side of the coin, some victims swing to the other extreme. In a desperate attempt to stave off their attacker (or any future attacker) and out of a complete lack of personal worth, they will avoid any sort of hygeine regimen because the smell keeps people away. Some may even develop a phobia about removing their clothing which makes it even harder to pursue any sort of hygeine. In fact, its common practice they will add more clothing to make themselves shapeless and 'invisible'. Unfortunately psychological scars last decades beyond the abuse itself and this is a very difficult cycle to break.

Also unfortunately, I'm speaking from experience. My older sister and I were both abused for years by the same person. She swung to one extreme and I to the other. She acted out, became fastidius, overly concerned with her outward appearance and what people thought of her, and for a while thought that the only true 'affection' one could gain from the opposing gender was sexual in nature. Twenty years later, she is far more relaxed and comfortable with herself and has a happy home and well-adjusted family.

I, on the other hand, shut down. I became terrified of people, men in general. I couldn't stand looking at myself nude and so refused to change or take off my clothes unless in my room with my eyes shut, and as fast as I could. I refused to shower, bathe, or brush my teeth...because I felt I should be as repulsive as I felt and then maybe he would leave me alone. Of course, all this led to ridicule at school which only further shattered my self-esteem.

After the abuse ended I continued on this spiral because in my mind, all men were creatures that would sooner or later do this to me. I was fully aware of my stench. It was a comfort to me, because it kept other people from bothering me. I was in desperate need of psychiatric help but couldn't even afford medical insurance at the time. I actually nearly went clinically psychotic at the end because I also had a thyroid disorder that remained untreated due to insurance costs.

Now, twenty years later, I am very much improved. I am on medication, I shower and change my clothes on a daily basis though I still have a tendancy to 'hide' in baggy and shapeless clothes. I'm more outgoing and confident in myself and I have long since realized that what happened was not my fault and not because I was worthless. I still have issues with men that may never go away. But compared to where I was even ten years ago, you wouldn't recognize me.

Anyway, I'm rambling. I tend to give people I encounter with poor hygeine a bit of forgiveness due to what I went through. A lot of times its simply not a matter of laziness or obliviousness, and comments about 'here, lemme show you how to use a stick of deodorant' actually tend to make matters worse because then they feel they're being called 'stupid' or patronized on top of their already shattered esteem.