The downside of warm weather...

[Dreamstalker]

It's getting warmer out, and that means the stinky SCs will be even harder to ignore.

I don't know (or want to know) what it is, but we have a few customers who literally smell like fresh shit They're not old, either (possibly ruling out the 'adult diaper' theory). Middle aged and otherwise seem normal. I noticed last night that after I dealt with one--they always have complicated transactions at self-scam so anyone helping them has to stay in the funk zone--everyone avoided that register for a while and I wouldn't be surprised if the smell partly clung to me for a bit. I'm going to see if I could requisition a can of neutral-smelling Lysol or something for the front end...how to spritz it discreetly will be the interesting part. Or maybe I can get away with being obvious if other customers are avoiding self-scan because of these people.

Yesterday ASM had to talk to Seafood Guy for 'not showering'...um, he's around raw fish (most fresh, some not so fresh) and whatnot all day and works his ass off; even if one is in a cooler most of the time you're going to work up a sweat. He showers regularly. How about talking to some of the customers about the way they smell? (of course that's never going to happen)

[Pixilated]

Nope, never. Corporate will just expect you to develop a depressed sense of smell of something.

[Seshat]

They're not old, either (possibly ruling out the 'adult diaper' theory). Middle aged and otherwise seem normal.

Not necessarily. Because of my disabilities, I have .. well, issues there. And there are a lot of bowel disorders that can make trouble. Of course, you probably don't notice most of the people who have such problems, because soap and water (or flushable baby wipes!) wash away a lot of 'sins'.
The most you're likely to smell on me is an inexplicable odour of baby-powder-scent. (I swear, EVERYTHING made to deal with continence issues smells like baby powder! Geez.)

Another possibility: they're farmers who have been working around manure and think they have cleaned it off (but while the manure itself may be cleaned off, the smell lingers).
Or gardeners, who .. ditto.

Possibility the third: they're just slobs.

[MoonCat]

Sometimes it's the clothing. My mom had some physical issues but she never smelled bad unless her clothes weren't clean.

[Dreamstalker]

Not a lot of farmers where I am. There are a few customers with bowel problems who will make an effort to either apologize or cover it up. I can't tell if the worst offender is aware of and legitimately embarrassed about a problem (but if they let me know, I'm more likely to be sympathetic), or he just doesn't care and/or can't smell it himself. I don't want to call anyone out--I'm not a confrontational person, and this sort of thing would be better handled by management.

ASM is big on the way people smell in warm weather, so maybe I can mention to him that there's a stinky customer and he might be able to come up with a diplomatic way to handle things. Especially if other customers are avoiding the checkout area.

[Victoria J]

I'm going to see if I could requisition a can of neutral-smelling Lysol or something for the front end...how to spritz it discreetly will be the interesting part. Or maybe I can get away with being obvious if other customers are avoiding self-scan because of these.

Having worked in very small rooms with a wide variety of members of the public, including those with mental health and physical health issues, I've experienced some smelly room problems.

We considered air fresheners too obvious, and having too much potential to offend. BUT using any chemical product would tend to mask the problem. So we used to polish the desks - room smelled, we would spray polish on the desk and wipe down, the room smelled mainly of polish.

In the absence of wooden desks any scented cleaning product might help, some spray or wipes for the register. No one can object to the registers being clean...

Victoria J

[Halo_miles]

WE have A LOT of ranchers and cattle haulers around our area and at the store. You can imagine what that smells like in the warmer months...blech.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Warmer weather means Doofus is going to be smelling even more ripe than he usually does.

He never washes his clothes. His pants are always dirty and filthy because he wears them multiple days. We work with freight, so that's a lot of dirt, dust, grime and sweat. He also has to wear long sleeves, because he has tattoos on his arms, so he's just going to sweat that much more when it gets really hot.

This in addition to the smell of his creeping death...outputs.

[South Texan]

This is one of the reasons why, whenever I have to work the front desk, I have a Renuzit solid "Super Odor Killer" on the desk beside me. Since it already is there whenever a particularly "ripe" individual walks up, the ripe one cannot complain that I singled him/her out. It is amazing how many of them seem to know that the item is on the desk because of them and take vocal offense to its presence as some kind of insult.