How do you deal with co-workers drowning in perfume?

Page 2 of 2 [ 21 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2

PunkyKat
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 14 May 2008
Age: 37
Gender: Female
Posts: 3,492
Location: Kalahari Desert

30 Mar 2010, 5:22 pm

Wear a gas mask to work? I used to up after cats and am going to do it again very soon when I find a vet's to work at. You always hear about how bad cat feces and cat urine smells but it's aromatherpay compared to some perfumes and cleaning agents.



auntblabby
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 12 Feb 2010
Gender: Male
Posts: 114,569
Location: the island of defective toy santas

31 Mar 2010, 12:11 am

stinky other workers present an advantageous situation for somebody who may have overslept and had to skip the morning hygienic routine, it distracts attention away from one's own misbehaving beans-stench. one just has to hang close to the perfume/cologne reekers, and the combined odors may mix into a "sweetly offensive" ambience.
____________________________________________________________________
just my 2 cents' worth, adjusted for inflation :)



Shooshie
Butterfly
Butterfly

User avatar

Joined: 28 Mar 2010
Age: 44
Gender: Female
Posts: 13

03 Apr 2010, 12:09 pm

2nd'ing: heard of an office that instituted a "no smells" policy. It was intended to cover perfume and B.O. They decided to write a blanket policy. Perfumes can trigger allergies, migraines, nausea, and more. It's serious.

A pretty indirect approach:
Comment on her perfume when you're not that close. "I think I recognize your perfume. What kind is it? Ah, yeah, i have a friend who wears that".

You could also ask for advice from a boss or mentor type person. Don't use names, that's gossip. Put it in terms of your health and not wanting to harm your relationship with the offender.



RichardP
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker

User avatar

Joined: 19 Nov 2009
Age: 78
Gender: Male
Posts: 67
Location: Altamonte Springs, Florida

18 Apr 2010, 3:44 am

Why don't you gently draw close to her and confide in her that you like her and are sure you're going to have a wonderful time working together but that you have a problem that you don't know how to handle in that strong odors of any kind, good or bad, make you dizzy and give you a terrible headache. There's plenty of medical journal articles dealing with multiple chemical sensitivities and it affects NTs as well especially migraine sufferers 95% of whom are intolerance of strong odors as these can trigger a migraine attack. You could mention that people who have seizure disorders and there are many can have an attack triggered by strong odors. You could mention that doctors and nurses and many others who are sensitive to such people's problems avoid wearing aromatic substances on their person and how would she feel about helping getting a policy like this started in your company, especially beginning with here. This sort of approach done tactfully and hesitantly to not overpower the other with your concerns might help you surmount the problem to your greatest satisfaction.

Richard P. VanWhy


_________________
RPPVW

"The purpose of the physician is to entertain the patient whilst the disease runs its inevitable course." -Voltaire

Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AT) Test: 46

Broad Autism Phenotype Test: 132 aloof, 114 rigid, 99 pragmatic


dtoxic
Deinonychus
Deinonychus

User avatar

Joined: 22 Jun 2008
Age: 54
Gender: Male
Posts: 346
Location: Boston MA

22 Apr 2010, 7:09 pm

Man you talk like an NT.