It Is Non-Fun To Tell Someone That They Smell...And Not In A Good Way.

Dear Readers,

Since it is a new day, I thought I would find a new topic to discuss.  As always, it's something you never wanted to know in the first place.

What is the topic you ask??  Body Odor.

I'm talking about B to the O, my dear readers.

It's one of those topics that I find society doesn't talk enough about it.  I think we need to start a healthy dialog around it.  It needs to be talked about and we need to "clear the air" so to speak.


First of all, body odor is natural.  Everyone has their own natural musk.  Some people's natural odor just happens to stink.  Literally.

I have so many stories about B.O. and sweating.  As I think about it...It's actually a disproportionate number of stories.  In fact, there are so many...that I actually had to go through a mental list and PICK one.  It was a toss up, and I went with a throw back tale.  No worries...I'll share some of my other smelly/sweaty stories with you later.  For today, I'm going to share a story of stink that happened in college.

My First Story of Stink:
Back in college I was a Resident Assistant (RA) for some time.  The "RA" is basically the person in charge of a large group of students (which we in the biz refer as "residents.")  I had 60 co-eds that I was responsible for.  It was the best job I ever had.

And the worst.  Why??  Because I was in charge of 60 co-ed students/residents.  And that meant I had to regulate. On Everything.  Including B.O.

My first year of doing the whole RA thing, the residents shared rooms.  So there were 2 people per room.  And whenever you have two people living in a confined space, you're going to come across a couple issues.  Also, the room that the students shared was about the size of a single car garage...or a large walk in closet.  Or jail cell.

Because of confidentiality reasons, I'm not going to name names.  I am however, going to tell you of an incident that I had to regulate and therefore resolve.

I had a male resident that did not get particularly get along with his roommate.  There were many reasons.  Most of them were hygiene related.  Basically, one of them smelled.

So the resident that had his nasal passages offended came to me one day to discuss his roommate.  And by "discuss" I mean this guy had HAD IT.  As a good RA, I listened to him rant and rave for about an hour.

I then had to investigate.  The thing about body odor is that...If you're going to accuse someone of having it...You better have your story straight.  So, I couldn't just take the word of his roommate...I HAD TO GO AND SMELL THE KID.

Have you ever tried to smell someone without their knowing??  Just randomly??  It's hard.  And there's no way to transition into it.  You can't knock on their door and say "Hey, can I smell you?  Your roommate thinks you stink."

At any rate, I had to fully investigate the situation and do a "Smell Check."


The "Smell Check" Was To Determine If:
A) It was their room in general that smelled.
B) He just needed to was his clothes.
C) He actually had Body Odor.


Turns out, it was option "C".  This guy, did in fact, have B.O.  BAD.    


So bad in fact...that I couldn't even talk to him about it on the spot.  I had to go back to my room and assess my next move.  Also, I had to get out of their room because I was gagging.  


I go back to my room and call up a couple other RA's...to get their opinions and bounce some ideas across.  It was the consensus of my fellow RA's...That this was in fact a potential health issue.  So therefore, I needed to address it.

So I did.

I grabbed one of my own bars of "Zest" and went back down to their room.

**Side Note:  Whenever, I have to do something uncomfortable or anything that involves confrontation...I just get down to it.  I rarely use transitions either.

So I knock back on their door and talk to the resident about his stink.

A Summary of Our Conversation:
Me:  I hand him a the bar of soap and say "Hey dude, you need to use this.  Seriously...Do you know what I mean??"
Smelly Resident:  "No?"  (Of course he didn't know what I mean.  People that have B.O. don't know.  If they did, I imagine they'd do something about it.)
Me:  "I don't know how to say it, so I'm just going to say it.  You smell.  And the smell isn't a good smell either."
Smelly Resident:  Super embarrassed.
Me:  "This isn't anything personal and you do what you want.  But your roommate is having a real issue with your odor."
Smelly Resident:  "Really?"
Me:  "Yes, and as uncomfortable as this is.  It's my job to talk to you about it.  If the situation was reversed and it was he that smelled...I would do the same thing for you.  I'd talk to him and give him a bar of Zest...just like I did with you."
Resident:  Still super embarrassed.
Me:  "Ok, we never have to talk about this again.  But seriously dude, use the soap."

And this concludes the summary of our conversation about his body odor. 


As an RA, I had to have this and many many other really awkward conversations.  The trade off was that  I had my Room & Board paid for.  However, I did the math and it worked out to to be something like $3 an hour.  And I had to confront many many things.  Like B.O.  Was it worth it??  I don't know.  But it happened, and I thought I'd share my story.

Let's Reflect:  What Did We Learn:

• Everyone has their own natural musk.
• In uncomfortable and or confrontational situations I rarely use transitional statements.
• I gave a resident a bar of Zest because he smelled.  And not in a good way.  Also, I haven't used Zest since.  

So I Ask You:

In awkward situations what do you do??  Do you just get right to the point??  Do you use Zest??  If so, are you going to continue using it after this story??

Forever, Blogging About Stories of My Life You Never Knew You Wanted To Know About In The First Place,
Miss Oakley

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