I am still wheezing. My eyes are still watering. One of my students is a heavy smoker, and whenever she comes near me, I think I’m going to die. She smells so bad, some nights I think I WANT to die.
My allergies are getting worse as I get older. Or maybe it’s just that I notice them more. All I know for sure is, no amount of soap or sandpaper is ever going to remove the accumulation of stenchy sludge from her skin and hair. And whenever she gets near me, I have a near-death experience.
How can I deal with this without hurting her feelings?
But then, if she really cared about other people, would she insist on standing an inch from my face, knowing she smells like the inside of an Auschwitz chimney? Or does she even KNOW she smells so awful? The other students are getting fed up with it, too. None of us knows quite what to do about it, though. Other than wear clothespins on our noses, that is.
I’ve heard that heavy smokers are so used to the smell that they truly don’t notice it. (Kind of like people who live across the road from a rendering plant . . . .) And that sometimes, they are shocked and even outraged, that other people think they stink.
But the truth of the matter is, this woman stinks. She stinks up the entire classroom. I can even smell her breath when she answers questions from her desk. I can smell her breath across a crowded room. Her stale smoky breath is different from her stale smoky body. The combination could level armies. It’s really bothering the other students. And me.
She’s not unwashed. It’s just that the smoke smell has permeated her entire being, and I don’t think there’s any help for it now. Tonight I finally got up the courage to ask her to step away from my desk, and I know it made her mad. In fact, whenever anyone in the room coughs or wheezes, she jerks her head around and glares.
I guess my main whine for tonight is, why are people who reek of old smoke always the ones who have no concept of personal space?
I can sooooo relate to this. I think my alergies have caused a heightened sense of smell when it comes to smokers. I can smell them coming around the corner and start to sneeze! I’m sure they don’t smell it any more because their nose’s are desensitized.
I just hate smoking!!!
I can sooooo relate to this. I think my alergies have caused a heightened sense of smell when it comes to smokers. I can smell them coming around the corner and start to sneeze! I’m sure they don’t smell it any more because their nose’s are desensitized.
I just hate smoking!!!
My body rejects even two seconds of infection with a smoker’s scent, and I used to work with a girl who was one of those bathroom break smokers.
So I started putting this below my nostrils and you almost can’t tell that smoke is in the room. It’s awesome.
My body rejects even two seconds of infection with a smoker’s scent, and I used to work with a girl who was one of those bathroom break smokers.
So I started putting this below my nostrils and you almost can’t tell that smoke is in the room. It’s awesome.
They truly don’t know that their body odor is offensive. The nose adapts to those scents that are constant and doesn’t communicate them to our brain. She truly doesn’t know.
Whether she’ll be offended is largely a matter of her personality and the manner in which the news is delivered. All anyone can do is try to be as kind as possible.
But someone has to say something.
-G
They truly don’t know that their body odor is offensive. The nose adapts to those scents that are constant and doesn’t communicate them to our brain. She truly doesn’t know.
Whether she’ll be offended is largely a matter of her personality and the manner in which the news is delivered. All anyone can do is try to be as kind as possible.
But someone has to say something.
-G