Here's a tic-tac.

[Pixagi]

Dear Beloved Circuit City Customer,

You were very nice and understanding that no, we don't have most of what you're looking for in stock. You were cooperative and not at all put off by the fact that you were gonna have to trek to another store. You were great, really.

Except for one, little, issue.

The bum who comes in everyday smells better then you.

Take a shower, change your diaper, brush your teeth, whatever you need to do, do it. Because making me help you, with you in my personal space, smelling like you do, is just wrong.

[theredbaron47]

Do what one of my co-workers did to one of the pharmacists.

Buy him a box of Tic-Tacs.

Put it down in front of the customer.

Say, "Here ya go. You might need these."

Huzzah!

[Ill_Used_Heroine]

Well, that's one problem solved ... now what about the BO? I get that WAY too much at the library, and there's not much you can do unless one of the other patrons complains. The staff just have to pretty much stop breathing.

Though, there was that one time that a staff person sprayed some air freshener in the patron's general direction. Didn't help all that much, though.

[Zeeko]

I get this all the time. Its horrid - especially when the SC thinks he/she MUST stand within 5 inches of me to tell me his/her problem and what they want to buy.

Come to think of it, my offsider (co worker - kind of like Robin to Batman - useless on his own) needs more than ONE tic-tac. He needs a trip to the manufacturing plant and to lick the vats they mix the minty goodness in.

[Jacen]

The best bet, ignore it. It's even better if you have a cold as you can't smell it then... If you work in a super market or similar feel free to offer advice to where the deoderant is.

[Bagga]

The next time that happens, before the customer says a word, just say:

"The deodorants are on Aisle 3, down there and to the left." And when the customer says that wasn't the question he wanted to ask, just say:

"That was the message I received"

[Hobgoblin]

The bum who comes in everyday smells better then you.

Please tell me this wasn't me. I'm betting it isn't, but yeah, it sounds like something I had happen a while ago.

Crap. Now I'm wondering if I'm the stinky guy.

Lets see: I came into a Circuit City looking for a Zune sync cable. They didn't have one, but the store out in the Valley had one. So I bought it in the store I was in and then drove to the other one.

Now for the important question: Did I smell bad?

[Bank Lady]

Oh God, this is such a problem for me. I've had customers that reek so badly I have to turn my head to get a breath of fresh air. I actually keep scented lotions in a drawer at my teller window. I pull one out to sniff after a stinky customer leaves to get the smell out of my nostrils.

I do have to say though that there are instances that bother me more than others. We get a lot of construction workers coming in after a long day to cash their paychecks. I can deal just fine with one day's worth of sweat from hard work. The ones that really revolt me are the people who seem like they haven't bathed in at least a week.

[crazylegs]

There seemed to be an *awful* lot of very smlly people out today, was it international small like a cess pit day or something?

[Listerfiend]

My store has an associate who has, erm , scent issues as well... The sad thing is that you can smell her before you see her... Which is awful. I don't think anyone's said anything to her before, though.

Does anyone hate the other side of the coin, though? I don't get many customers with BO problems, but I do get people once in a while who seem to have bathed in their choice of (nasty smelling) perfume/cologne. I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm extremely sensitive to chemicals, and I can only handle a bit of perfume. I've had to actually turn away and cough my lungs out when dealing with customers who feel it necessary to wear such excessive amounts of perfume/cologne. Personally, I'd rather deal with BO than someone trying to *cover up* bad BO...

[gunsage]

This is the one reason I'm glad I work in a small call center department and don't have to directly deal with customers. I mean, in this situation, if somebody stanks, it's said.

Me: "Yo! You smell like yesterday's garbage! At least wipe your ass when you leave the toilet!"

Ahem. Anyway, the worst I'd ever experienced, olfactory-wise, from a customer was when I worked gas stations and drunk asses would come in. What, did you BATHE in the beer? Jeebus. And, for the record, recall that I booted SEVERAL bums from the bus station...but I'm still saying the drunks are the worst.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

There seemed to be an *awful* lot of very smlly people out today, was it international small like a cess pit day or something?

Dunno . . . we didn't get the memo down here and I didn't notice anyone today that reeked while I was out shopping.

There again . . . we're always a day or two later down South anyways, so I may end up encountering that tomorrow.

[Sylvia727]

I have a very poor sense of smell, so one of my friends' duties is to tell me when I reek. Being the generous, stand-up kinda guys that they are, they never fail to do so

[worddork]

Garlic Breath

The first book store I worked at was next door to an Italian resturant, and when their customers were finished eating, they would come in and buy books from us. Fine, all well and good but the resturant used so much garlic that the customers would come in reeking of the stuff. Needless to say if you were taking down information from their driver's license, and looked up to answer a question, before they stopped talking, you could end up getting an eye full (yes, right in the eye)of garlic breath. Which by the way, bruns something fierce.

[Pixagi]

Please tell me this wasn't me. I'm betting it isn't, but yeah, it sounds like something I had happen a while ago.

Crap. Now I'm wondering if I'm the stinky guy.

Lets see: I came into a Circuit City looking for a Zune sync cable. They didn't have one, but the store out in the Valley had one. So I bought it in the store I was in and then drove to the other one.

Now for the important question: Did I smell bad?

It's okay, I work in Games, and in New York City. Not you. You're safe.