In the States, we like to smell clean. To have B.O. is to be ridiculed and shunned. We are obsessed with being showered, bathed, well groomed.
Around here? Not so much. Let me tell you - there is just nothing worse than having someone serve me in a restaurant and getting a whiff of their pit. Or being stuck in an elevator with some pretty powerful B.O. And although I know that I live in a country with severe water restrictions, I just don't know how important B.O. is to them.
Today? I was home with a sick kid. So I didn't get to go in to work. The contractors we work with? Some shower. But this one? Phew. It is not good.
The woman who did work today? She said it was bad. Really bad. Bad enough she had to have a conversation. But the worst part? The part that makes me feel ashamed and uncomfortable and unhappy? He came back to work in the afternoon, and she said she thinks they sprayed him with Lysol. I feel sick inside 'cuz I can't imagine how the conversation went. And how they arrived at Lysol as the solution. And I wonder whether or not he felt humiliated.
6 comments:
Oh dear, that's uncomfortable. Cultural differences are tough. Spraying with Lysol though? That's kinda harsh.
It doesn't take much water at all to wash the smelly bits. And there's a HUGE difference between fresh smell (which isn't always pleasant, but it's a fact of life in a hot place and when you work hard) and smell that's been there a long time due to lack of personal hygiene. Huge difference. I think Lysol is insulting, but maybe there's a lot more to the story, in regards to that particular individual... I have been in a supervisory position, more than once, where I've had to train adults to keep themselves clean. (no lysol, but threats to job, sending them home, etc - perhaps lysol was a better alternative for this worker, than losing a day's pay?). Pretty sad, but there's a point where hygiene and health concerns really need to be addressed.
There are some like that here too. Standing in the line at the grocery is the worst. Germans, in general, tend to stand very close without the personal space I love and it can be unpleasant in the extreme when I've encountered a 'non-bather'!
I'm no fan of the B.O. either... though it's more of a rarity to find someone who's bathed and smells fresh rather than the latter.
Fun, eh?
Oh my, I can completely relate to this post... It's so uncomfortable to have to have that talk with another adult. But I can't bear the smell and how it lingers in the house. I'm wondering what to do about the nose-pickers who then serve food or touch computer keyboards at school!
Wow that does sounds like an uncomfortable position. But hygiene is hygiene and I think it's important to be clean especially if you deal with the public.
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