Get me a gas mask!

[Pagan]

Ok, I understand that in other countries personal hygiene is looked upon differently than in the US, but this went beyond.

I had a lady from India come up to the register to do a return. It was without a receipt, but she used the *Red Star Store* CC and she still had the tag, so no problem. She claimed that when she washed the top she was returning, the shiny sequin-type things started coming off. No biggie, that's a defect, so I did the return. Now when I went to reattach the tag, I picked up the top and shook it out to see how bad it was, I noticed this strong, and I mean strong BO. At first, I thought, "Man, is that me? Can't be me I took a shower and used deodorant." Sniff, sniff....IT'S THE TOP!! So now I need to damage the top out. Nobody's gonna want to buy that.

Wait....it gets better!

This woman and her daughters had been trying on a whole bunch of things in one of the fitting rooms. So she brings over what she wants to buy. Now, right now on our 65% off racks we've got signs that clearly state that anything that was $29.99 and below is now $9.99 and anything $30 and up is $19.99. I'll give you three guesses what happened next and the first two don't count. That's right, she got no further than the $9.99 and proceeded to argue with me even after we went over and I pointed out what the sign said!

Wait....it gets even better!

I go to the fitting room they were in and pick the clothes that they had just left piled in there with the hangers all over the damn place. As I'm sorting them out and putting them back on hangers, I notice that smell again. That's right folks, I had to damage out two more tops because of this woman.

I have no problem with other cultures and everything, but this just strikes me as wrong. I'm sorry, but you just can't leave your stank all over clothes that you have no intention of buying and also depriving someone else the privilege of buying them!

[Rapscallion]

What does race have to do with this? The stinkiest customer I ever had was white.

Could smell that bugger coming from fifty feet if the wind was in the right direction. The local bakery emptied a can of air freshener every time he visited.

Rapscallion

[JustADude]

What does race have to do with this? The stinkiest customer I ever had was white.

I think the whole point was that certain other cultures don't have as much of a... thing... about body odor and cleanliness as the values shared by Canadian/American/British/Western European types, and race was being mention to suggest either a mitigating factor or a relevant hypothetical cause of said stinkiness.

[iradney]

At one of my old jobs, we hired a German guy. Yes, this is relevant. He wasn't from Germany hisself, but his parents were.
Now, the area we worked in was one of the hottest places you can live in South Africa.
Even during summer (40+ degrees Celcius), he would only shower once a week. Now, I can understand doing that during winter - you don't really sweat, so...but personally I LIKE to shower..
So he wouldn't shower during summer - and I had to sit next to him...and after a few days he would, lets say "ripen"....
But it's apparently a cultural thing (according to German Dude) - they didn't feel the need to wash as it is normally so cold there...

[Ree]

I agree with Raps.

"White" people do their share of stinking as well.

I think I know what you're trying to say, but it reeks of racism.

I work with a guy who is as bigoted as they come and he goes on all the time about how "those people stink. You can smell them coming a mile away."

He claims that it's their diet and all that curry and stuff comes out their pores.

I'm sorry, but I have read and seen too many generalizations about people of different cultures having a smell to them, and I honestly don't think that mindset belongs on this board.

[Broomjockey]

He claims that it's their diet and all that curry and stuff comes out their pores.

I don't know about coming out their pores, but I think some people sneak food in or something, because whenever we'd show Hindi or Punjabi films at the theatre, the auditorium would smell of curry and such for more than a week after we finished, and people who had no way of knowing what was playing in there previously would comment that there was a scent in the theatre, so racism would be the least of the explanations I'd consider for that.

On the flip side of the coin though, I had a (white) roommate who had what I called "stealth smell." The guy himself didn't smell, but you could always tell what was his by the smell left behind. When he moved out, we decontaminated his room by sprinkling baking soda all over and leaving it shut for a week, with the window open, in December. So yeah, anyone can be really stanky.

[iradney]

When my ex's parents (who, by the way, are liberal to the point of going overboard) went to the Far East, they travelled on the train quite alot. Now their trains were generally very very crowded, but there was always a circle of about half a meter around them. They were very surprised and thought it was awfully nice of the people to give them space.
That is, until their host informed them that it is because of the way they smell. Apparently due to the Eastern diet not having much in the way of meat and dairy, they aren't used to the smell of sweat from people that have alot of meat, dairy and processed foods..
Of course, this is hearsay. I have never personally experienced it myself, and somewhat doubt it's truthfulness, but just relaying something that unprejudiced people told me.

[IT Grunt]

I don't know about coming out their pores, but I think some people sneak food in or something, because whenever we'd show Hindi or Punjabi films at the theatre, the auditorium would smell of curry and such for more than a week after we finished, and people who had no way of knowing what was playing in there previously would comment that there was a scent in the theatre, so racism would be the least of the explanations I'd consider for that.

As far as BO, everybody on Earth is going to have that if they don't wash, but as far as a cultural thing, eh. I'm not going to go there.

Food... now that's cultural. Right out of college I picked up work for a bank, and they had arranged for apartments we could move in to, and pre-paid the deposits. In the particular block I was in, there were several Indian families on the floor above us, and they cooked very heavily with curry. The smell was so bad I had to hold my breath to walk down that hall, since my mailbox was outside the main door, and I was in the basement level. It weaved its way into the ventilators for the bathrooms and would fill our apartment with the smell, and I was always nauseated because of it. Nothing the apartment complex could do about it, although there were plenty of people complaining about the smell, including myself. To this day just a whiff of it sends me reeling.

[air914]

I used to think all black people smelled really bad b/c the ones that I came in contact with seemed to all really smell funny - I think it was actually the hair care products they used..... but I remember always getting kinda nauseaus in school when I hand to stand next to black girls b/c of the smell.... but it truly was probably just their hair products and not them.... of course that was when I was a lot younger and I've met plenty of black people now that don't smell and don't reak of the salon.... I think bad smelling people come in all shapes, sizes, and colors and all nationalities - it's the ones that somehow "missed" that personal hygiene lesson from their parents or from school.... or the ones that just decided they don't care........

[Catwoman2965]

Oh i agree, i've smelled my share of stinky people, didn't matter what color or nationality they were.

Also, and not a knock against smokers, but i had a return on time, a very nice, fairly expensive sweater twin set, never worn, and returned not for any defect, but had to damage it out as it STANK like an ashtray....my father smokes, but i have never smelled anything as bad as this. i could barely touch it, and had to put it in a plastic bag in the damage bin, so the rest of the stuff would smell like it. then i washed my hands for like 15 minutes! i guess the customer was such a heavy smoker she didn't even notice it.

[queenbb]

i dont think that the op ment it to be a racial thing, i have noticed over the years that some cultures have a distinct smell, not nessisarily bo per se but maybe because of what they eat or the bathing products they use. i had a fried who was hindi and she had the hindi smell, it wasnt a bad smell it was just uniquely hindi,

you know like when you go in to any family home and their home has an unique smell to it, from food and normal body smells as well as pets in to the equasion.

anyway... i read this and i was reminded of a rant that i had posted on another board, so i thought that i would bring it back up here having to deal with the smell of costumers lol. (ok not all smell related) from when i worked at the halloween store last year. (note this was my 2nd year working there so i had most of what was going on down i still love that store and i will work there again if i have the chance)

ok, my job rant...

i like my current job, i work at the halloween store. i love halloween and i love to help people in to their costumes. helping them find new and interesting ideas, and watching little kids faces when they turn in to a pirate or super hero.

things that bug me about this job

#1 if you are going to try on costumes please at least wear deoderant, you smell, and now my costumes smell and someone else has to smell you.

#2 i dont care how smelly you think you are, cause if you put on deoderant and take a bath you are not that smelly, so dont put on loads of perfume that make people who need to help you want to vomit and get a migraine from it, and now my costumes smell like B.O. and ranchy perfume that other people have to smell too.

#3 if you are a larger person please try on costumes in your size, not something that you think might fit you, although if you brake a zipper that means that i get hte costume so thank you for letting me be wonder woman, a pirate, a beer garden girl, a cat, raggety ann, and several types of fairys.

we are also right next to a highschool so heres the other part of my rant

#1 if you get off school and need to kill time do not come in and try on costumes, especialy if you have 5 frineds and you all want to wear the same thing at the same time in differnt sizes

#2 if you have 5 friends, do not choose HALF the friggin store to try on at the same time, you make my pile of costumes enormous and i have to put them all back and you didnt intend to buy a single one, so these try on sessions (which by now are slowing down yippy) are only for your enjoyment and not mine. so if you want the costume call your mommy and have them pay for it.

#3 if you are insecure do not try on the sexy costumes, and hten squeel at your friends to run in and look at you, you are crowding my dressing room. if your boy friend is waiting for you, do not ask him to come in and look at you so no one else can see you cause if you are not that confident to step out of the dressing room then you do not need to be wareing it in public.

parents...

please be clear on what your school rules are, i will let you know if the costume might be to short for your daughter, and if you have little boys please be sure that the pants fit right.

and little girls, lets be more decisive about what you want to be, so we do not torcure your poor dads who do not wnat to be in the costume shop at all time shorter than as if you were to try on every costume in your size in the store (poor dad followed me to lunch cause he was so bored and left mom with the kids lol and complained about costume shoping the whole time)



and when im at lunch, if you see me running through the mall, do not stop to talk to me or ask me directions to some place in side the mall or some other store that i have no idea exists i do not work in the mall i work in the friggen halloween store which just happens to be in an old robinsons may store which happens to be in the mall, i am in a hurry since i only get 30 mins for lunch and i do not get to walk through the mall like every one else i have to walk around the mall to get to the food court, at least i get to have a few smokes in this time which puts my mind at ease. so as i am stuffing my face it does not mean that i want to talk to you in any way (except for the guy at the arbys hes nice, knows what i want to order and has it ready for me when i come through the food court, as well as addresses me by name

[ditchdj]

I know that in Spain they usually only bathe every 3-4 days. When I got on the public buses there that didnt have A/C you were fully reminded of that, especially when there were middle-aged men on the bus!

[Polenicus]

I honestly don't know how people can go days without bathing.

If I don't take a shower every morning, by 2pm I feel intolerably grotty. When I used to go out with my Dad on the boat for a week or so, it got really bad (Not much in the way of bathing facilities on a 30ft sailboat). I really dislike putting on clean clothes before I'm clean myself.

But mebbe that's just me. I'm very sensitive ot odors, and the last thing I want is to smell foul myself. In others I can forgive it, but I gotta put up with me every second of the day.

[mischugenah]

When my ex's parents (who, by the way, are liberal to the point of going overboard) went to the Far East, they travelled on the train quite alot. Now their trains were generally very very crowded, but there was always a circle of about half a meter around them. They were very surprised and thought it was awfully nice of the people to give them space.
That is, until their host informed them that it is because of the way they smell. Apparently due to the Eastern diet not having much in the way of meat and dairy, they aren't used to the smell of sweat from people that have alot of meat, dairy and processed foods..
Of course, this is hearsay. I have never personally experienced it myself, and somewhat doubt it's truthfulness, but just relaying something that unprejudiced people told me.

Oh, it's very true. Diet has a lot to do with a persons BO. As westerners, we're accustomed to a certain diet, and therefore a certain smell, to the point where we don't notice it's there until it's quite strong. Go to a place with a different prevailing diet, and people are going to notice you smell odd (and you're going to notice it on them) unless/until you eat their diet long enough that your body adjusts. I've lived in Taiwan and China and seen this first hand.
On a similar note, I spent a month hiking in Colorado when I was 17. We were hiking on snowpack, with limited fuel, so no showers for almost a month. We got pretty dirty. I remember, tho, thinking that it was odd we didn't smell worse... I mean, there was a bit of an odor to us, but not so much as you'd notice it unless you were looking for it. At least that's what I thought until we finally got back to base camp and got hot showers. Suddenly, I couldn't get within 10 feet of my gear without wincing! All my friends said it was the same for them. When everyone smells the same, we simply don't notice it.

[Shabo]

I know that there is a certain disorder that causes really bad bo. I knew someone who had this problem, and he couldn't do anything about it. If you caught him in the morning, after he showered, he smelt fine, but at the end of the day... you didn't really want to be anywhere near him.

Another friend of mine knew a kid that was allergic to soap, so didn't bother to shower. That's pretty nasty.

I prefer to shower every day, but I know that other cultures don't really care to. And yes, curry smells really bad when you cook it, but it tastes so good!!!

I think that any kitchen that doesn't cook the type of food that one is used to is going to smell really funny/gross to others. For example, I live in a very Portuguese-centric area, and have Portuguese friends. Their kitchens smell terrible!!! But they have such good food that it doesn't matter to me. So it depends on the culture as to what smell they are going to have.