How do you let a colleague know they have terrible body odor?
I'm in a group of three guys who are doing a four month research project. I have already gotten through 2.5 months of it, but not with much olfactory pleasure. He's a great worker and is bright, but his BO is terrible. How do you go about telling him without ruining the working relationship and dynamic?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Cory Barz on -
One approach, and I'm not saying it would be the best but it might work, would be to keep it light. Something like, "dude, grab a shower. You are getting a little gamey!" Light, direct and to the point. Of course you would want to say that when no one else was around.
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Permalink Reply by Todd Serveto on -
I completely agree with Barz. Guys can often do that with each other, get the point across, and still keep it fun and non-offensivve this way. Imagine if he were passing gas---you might wrinkly your nose, sniff like you're trying to figure out what it is, then go, DUDE, is that YOU?...GROSS! (smile, smile, smile). You can basically do the same thing here----go up to him and sniff and say "you been working out? You're a little RIPE!" and say it with a smile.
Even being loud and "teasing" about it might make it go down smoother. Just don't act like you don't respect him or like you think he's disgusting. Keep it light-hearted and funny--he'll get the message.
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Permalink Reply by Cody Fulling on -
just tell him he stinks.........
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Permalink Reply by I'mCosy on -
I would appreciate an honest opinion from/of a friend. I don't think its that easy to be aware of one's own BO.
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Permalink Reply by Andrew Barbour on -
I had to tell a guy that once. I think my co-workers and I drew straws to see who would tell him, and I lost.
When I had a moment alone with him that he "may want to be a bit more liberal with the deodorant."
You could also be extra sly and simply put a bottle of Driclor or similar on his desk when he's not around.
(Incidentally, look up Driclor on Amazon.com... it's AMAZING. It is the only antiperspirant I've ever found that actually stops you from sweating. At all. Even during strenuous exercise when the rest of you is soaked, your armpits are bone dry. )
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Permalink Reply by Topher White on -
In our culture right now, preceding any phrase with "Dude" softens the blow and asserts comraderie.
"Dude, you can't just rob the bank."
"Dude, it's you mother"
"Dude, attend to the body issues, 'kay?"
See, it's the universal word of power.
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Permalink Reply by Will on -
This is oll korrect, in my book. And I have done this -- not to a colleague, but to a student. I kept it light. He went back to the dorm and took a shower.
But when I was in college, there was a girl in my class who smelled terrible. It wasn't her fault; I recognized the stench: it was the inevitable side effect of a drug called DMSO or something like that.
Someone decided to try the approach of leaving a deodorizer thing on her desk. I threw it away before she came in. What a slap in the face that would have been! Just saying it is so much kinder.
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Permalink Reply by Cory Barz on
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DMSO, I've never heard of it. Does it stand for Doesn't Make Showers Often?
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Permalink Reply by Will on
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It's dimethyl sulfoxide. It stinks, you can't take it and not ooze it out your pores, and it's a treatment for some bladder problems. I hated seeing them kick this girl when she was sick.
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Permalink Reply by Cory Barz on
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This is a bummer, I assumed it was an illicit drug not a prescription.
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Permalink Reply by Terry on -
Unless you have to share a cube with him or something personally I wouldn't say anything at all. There's just no nice way to go about it. And no matter how much you tell yourself that you're doing the guy a favor by telling him, that's not really your motive, is it?
If you have to say something, maybe an anonymous note made from clipped out letters from a magazine. Or if direct confrontation is the only way then maybe a group "intervention" is best. It's too easy to discount the opinion of one person.
This falls under the same category as the guy at the office who marinates in cologne. Sometimes you find that rare specimen who has both problems concurrently.
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