"smelly guy" dies from exposure to clean laundry

[Ghel]

I think each of us has had to deal with at least one creepy, smelly customer. The main one here came in to the bank on almost a daily basis. He would bang on the counters and stomp his feet if he felt the service was too slow. He wore the same clothes every day. He never wore a belt and his pants were too big, so he was always holding his pants up with one hand. He alternated between talking in a sickeningly sweet voice and yelling incoherently. Until yesterday. He was found slumped over in the laundry room of the apartment building where he lived with his mother. I didn't know whether to cheer or to feel sorry for his mom. All I could say was that I wasn't surprised that he was done in by clean laundry.

[Aethian]

Any link to this?

[blas]

I work with several people like that. I swear, they must either only bathe once a week, or maybe even less than that. Their hair is always super greasy and looks like it hasn't been shampooed since Britney Spears was bald, their clothes are so wrinkled and stretched that you can tell they haven't changed or washed them......

This is why I stay out of the perfume threads. Because after I shower, I do lay it all on, and not one person has ever complained. Because where I work, it's nice to to be around someone who smells good.

[Victoria J]

I think each of us has had to deal with at least one creepy, smelly customer.

One ?

If only. My work has an aspect of support of those with mental health problems (we're not support workers but everyone ends up here when there benefit stops or they're being evicted etc.) so we get lots.

There was one man who had on the same filthy stained clothes every time I saw him over more than 3 weeks. Clearly not cleaned at any point. I saw something crawling on him once.

There was another man who was a hoarder. His house was filled with stuff to the extent it was classified as a health hazard. I kind of sympathise with that because I have less severe problems with hoarding and tidiness at home, however this guy was going out and collecting choice bits of garbage to take home to his flat. He carried a huge laundry bag full of stuff and clearly wasn't cleaning himself or his clothes. After half an hour with him where the only thing I touched was some paperwork he brought I had a rash up my arm.

Or there was the man who I filled out disability benefit forms one hot summer. We couldn't have the windows open because of the noise that came in from the street - and it took 2 appointments at 2 hours each to do the form. Near the end I actually asked about cleaning/washing (it asks on this particularly form) and he told me he hadn't washed in 6 weeks.

I managed not to point out that I'd kind of worked that out.

I've had plenty of customers who left me needing a shower after 20 minutes in a room with them. My least favourite isn't the smelly people though it's the people reeking of alcohol. Everyone notices the really unwashed in the waiting room and no one blames you if your room smells for the rest of the day - but if you start seeing people at 9.30 in the morning and the first person you see is seriously alcoholic everyone else you see that day will think the alcohol fumes are coming from you.

Ugh.

Victoria J

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I think each of us has had to deal with at least one creepy, smelly customer.

There are two reekers that frequent the clearance swamp that I can recognize by their clothes.

One always wears a dirty, gold and black Matt Kenseth jacket. The other is bald except for a bunch of stringy grey hair that goes down past his shoulders.

[RetailWorkhorse]

I think each of us has had to deal with at least one creepy, smelly customer.

Just one?!

Try 4. Per day. Different People. I'm glad I'm not going to be there during the Summer, because they get WORSE then. YUCK!

[Imogene]

This is why I stay out of the perfume threads. Because after I shower, I do lay it all on, and not one person has ever complained.

So long as you don't bathe in it... then, yes, I'd have no problem with you smelling nice.

Off topic momentarily, I like the way skunks smell. No, seriously. Scents that disturb most people smell interesting to me. That'll be a fun one to try to explain.
"You smell like a skunk..."
"I know, isn't it romantic, okay?"
Good luck with figuring out the link for that train of thought.

[CoffeeMonkey]

We have one. J is a big dude that walks up and down the street where our store is. He has two or three long sleeved shirts and is wearing one of them in all but the hottest weather. On summer days, they're soaked with sweat. Overgrown, dirty nails, greasy, unkempt hair that's always under a baseball cap, and a stench that can knock you back. He always sits down with his purhcase to drink it, too, and stinks up the surrounding area for a good half hour.

Yet other than this, he's not a bad customer. He comes every day, browses the newspaper a bit, browses the menu for a long time, but doesn't get in line til he knows what he wants. He can usually be coaxed into getting a muffin or somesuch. I've wondered if he's homeless, but he comes in every day buying the more expensive drinks, and always has a lot of cash in his wallet.

It's sad, cuz he's clearly a little disabled, and spends more in our store than a lot of our regulars. If he would just WASH himself...

[PepperElf]

do stinky coworkers count? one gal i mentioned before (thank God she didn't work in my division!) smelled like dirty panties. from a distance.

[RetailWorkhorse]

Off topic momentarily, I like the way skunks smell. No, seriously. Scents that disturb most people smell interesting to me. That'll be a fun one to try to explain.
"You smell like a skunk..."
"I know, isn't it romantic, okay?"
Good luck with figuring out the link for that train of thought.

Sweet, kinda like vegetation about to turn into dirt, right?

[NightWatch]

do stinky coworkers count? one gal i mentioned before (thank God she didn't work in my division!) smelled like dirty panties. from a distance.

Thanks... I won't be finishing that bowl of soup anytime soon...

[Ghel]

I had the strangest dream last night. I sometimes have dreams about work, but this one was really weird.

I dreamt that the smelly guy and his mother came in to the bank, as they used to do on Social Security Day. What was really weird about it was that they were both CLEAN. They had obviously washed that day, and their hair was combed and soft-looking. They were each wearing new, clean clothes that were even somewhat stylish. The formerly smelly guy was wearing a belt. They were smiling. They were polite. And after he finished with his banking business, the smelly guy went into the president's office and struck up a conversation. I even heard the guy laugh at one point. It was so weird.


Oh, and as some of you have mentioned, yes, I have to deal with more than one stinky, creepy person where I work. And I have to deal with my share of alcoholics as well. But this guy was one that came in to the bank on almost a daily basis.

[Ghel]

So Friday, smelly guy's obit is finally in the newspaper. His funeral is Monday. For those not keeping track, that means it's been a full 2 months since he died. I hope they're doing a closed-casket funeral. He was stinky enough before he died, and embalming fluid is only intended to keep the body fresh for a few days.

[NightWatch]

Looks like there really is no relief from the stink. A little ironic that he was stinky in life and death.

[telecom_goddess]

UGH that is beyond nasty...I can't understand how people can live in their own filth like that it would drive me INSANE.