Touchy subject....People that smell

I use to work in a grocery store and delt with people like this a lot. Most of them were elderly and I just thought they were unable to take care of them selves. I also noticed they seemed to have a lot of pets becasue they bought a lot of cans of pet food. Here, my father explained to me that there are people who are so poor that they eat pet food and it casue them to smell. It made me understand the situation a bit better.

I have noticed that people who tend to eat spicy foods like curries and also a lot of garlic, tend to have a noticeable body odour, sometimes it can be really bad but they don't seem to notice it at all. Sometimes I wonder if they do really notice or care at all.

It is really hard to smell yourself. that is unless you really smell bad. You are around yourself so much you don't notice it like other people do. I go tot he casino alot and most of the time I just smell smoke, but sometimes the people next to me can give off some interesting smells. Some people just wear way to much perfume.

I think maybe they can't smell themselves or they have adjusted to the stench. Some people can't help it I understand, but you would think they could at least try to mask the smell. That is why we have perfume, powder and deodorant right?

As someone has already said i think sometimes because they live with it all the time they do not realise that they smell. Many years ago I had a neighbour who got quite bad sometimes, that bad that people had commented to her mother-in-law but when her mother-in-law tried to talk to her about it she just wouldn't listen then came to me to complain about how much of a cow her mother-in-law was, I did try to tell her that she was not doing it to be nasty but she just wouldn't listen.

I work in a bank, and I will have customers come in just reeking some days. Not only that, money they bring in also reeks. I have been known to spray my entire cash drawer with Lysol, and it makes my coworkers laugh like crazy, but I just can't deal with the stench after a while. I know that people probably don't realize they smell, or maybe there is something wrong that they can't help. I've just always been one of those people that wants to be clean (unless I'm actively doing something in nature at that exact moment) so I just can't understand it. Anyway, I try to be nice to people no matter what, so I do my best not to react until after the person is gone.

I actually had that today there was an old Gentlemen and as I tried to get past him he smelled of sweat and all that I know he was old but surely the Body Hygiene is still important. I am not being mean but he really did smell bad

Think about this before you judge others: "Some people have a mild fish-like odor and others have a strong, extremely offensive such odor. These people have a rare genetic disorder known as Fish Odor Syndrome. They have an odor no amount of bathing or perfuming will disappear. Although only about a hundred cases have been described in the scientific literature worldwide, the syndrome may not be as rare as that number suggests. Trimethylaminuria is only occasionally identified during childhood. Some cases of trimethylaminuria may have no genetic component: Several patients seem to have developed the disorder after liver or kidney disease... We believe that these people fail to metabolized trimethylaminuria and that this is the source of the fishy smell. It is an enzyme deficiency produced by a genetically inherited condition. The first case of trimethylaminuria was described in the medical literature in the 1970s, but literary references may go back a thousand years. For example, an ancient Hindu tale describes a maiden who "grew to be comely and fair, but a fishy odor ever clung to her." Although they show no apparent lack of hygiene or obvious medical symptoms, most people with the disorder report having foul body odors, bad breath, or a bad taste in their mouths. Studies in the last few years have shown that trimethylaminuria results from defects in an enzyme that breaks down trimethylamine, a byproduct of protein digestion released by bacteria living in the gut. This small molecule — the compound that gives fish their fishy odor — smells foul or garbage-like at low concentrations and fishy in larger amounts... There is no cure for fish odor syndrome, but a special diet can alleviate the worst of the odor problems. This low-protein regime restricts the amino acid choline, a building block of protein naturally found in high concentrations in fish, eggs, beans, and organ meats. Some people also report that limiting lecithin, a common food additive that is also naturally found in eggs, soybeans, and corn, helps reduce odor." http://www.medical-library.net/sites/framer.html?/sites/_fish_odor_syndrome.html

Sometimes it can be because they have no water or power at home. This has happened to us on several occasions in the past, we had to go out to get something to feed everyone, but for one reason or other could not get cleaned up first, so had to go stinking and it is embarrassing, But sometimes there really is not much of a choice, and personally I can smell me when I start stinking I have a very sentive nose, so I usually take two showers or so a day because I don't like stinking. And at least one of my children have a very sensitive nose he is always wanting to take a shower or get deodorant. Anyway, besides the no water situation there can be other reasons such as being homeless, that can make it difficult to find a place to take a shower at times, (we have also been homesless before earlier in our marriage) and when your sleeping in your vechical you can get to be a stinky. Not everyone that is homeless looks like they are but if they can not get to a shower they may smell pretty bad at times. I think most people do care about their appearance when in public unless they are sick or unstable in some way but not everyone can do something about what they need to as fast as they need to be able too.

the worst thing to do with smelling that i have ever had to endure was when me and my other hal were in dixons i was on one isle she on the other then i went round to her isle to see what she was looking at and she quickly hopped off further down the isle and i walked into this god all mighty stench like they were cleaning the sewers out of something well of course everyone else who smelt it thought i had dropped one and i hadn't BUT SHE HAD

This is probably because its either that they really have no proper grooming skills or its because they have gotten immuned to their own smell since they dont clean themselves up that often. I think its more on they are "unaware" that they smell bad so they still go out and live their lives. And sometimes, there are certain cultures wherein smelling bad- is a norm. There are also instances that they do know however they dont have the privilege or they have no access to places where the can clean themselves, take the homeless for example, they dont have access to clean clothes, ample supply of water or even some money to buy soap.

Sometimes, this might be a body condition... who wants body odor if she can help it? So it may be that she just can't get rid of it. Still, she needs to go out, get food and eat right? :P

Funny story when my son was about 4 we were out grocery shopping and he smelt something weird so he says mommy did you fart and i said no so he gets out of the cart and starts sniffing around he found this very overweight women adn he sniffs her but and he says mommmy i know who smells but it wasnt cause she farted she was just very over weight and had some odor to her i was humiliated i apologized adn got out of there very quickly

I have worked with two such people. Both were obese. I am a large woman and I shower and ensure I don't carry odor when I am outside of the house. I am very obsessive about it. I have even been known to carry baby wipes in my purse and touch up in the bathroom, if I feel sweaty or not so fresh. These two ladies, were awful to work with. They did not shower daily and being that big, you have to take extra effort in the hygiene department. This one lady I worked with was the nicest person you could ever wish to work with, but we worked in a confined office space and when the sun came out and it warmed up, her odor did to! To the point it was overwhelming and I would have to step outside. The other lady was the same. This lady had a severe depression problem and did not bathe except maybe twice a week. It was brought to her attention, after I approached our boss about it. She smelled so bad it was awful, and I had to work in close proximity to her. Her hair was oily all of the time, she wore the same clothes day after day, we thought maybe she doesn't have the money to buy clothing so we chipped in for "employee appreciation day" (we made that up so we could do this without making her feel bad). We bought her a gift certificate to a clothing store. She didn't use it. Finally, my boss just had to muster up the nerve to say something. It didn't help. So, honestly I don't know why. I know for me as a larger lady, I do care and I am very careful about hygiene and being concerned about others. it is not a nice thing to encounter in a store, which I have seen it there as well. Some people are raised that way, that hygiene is not that important, some people just don't care and some people are so deep into their depression that hygiene isn't something they are too worried about. There are thousands of reasons why honestly.

I think people often do not realize that they smell. If they thought they did then they would do something about it - like use a deodarant.As you said it, its a touchy subjectand friends and families often dont even point it out to them that they smell. I think everyone should be conscious about their own body smells and correct any problems.

i agree, i know eactly what you mean, i used to work in a cheap retail shop when i was younger and TRUST ME you get plenty of ferals in there, there have been times when i was on the cash register when i have had to serve stinky customers i have actually held my breath while packing there items, no Bull$hit, its abosluely discusting! also many times when waiting in line to be served at a super maket, im almost tempted to drag the offender back to the deoderant isle. its not always Boady odor that can be smelt though, some times its just a dirty smell.

I guess these people don't know or don't care that they smell because they get so used to it. Or they are really poor people that they can't afford money to buy all those anti-odor products, which they think it as luxary thing.

I had the same experience with you,because one of my friends is with a smell with her in nature,from her family.Of course she knows the fact but the problem is that she is used to the smell and she can't understand how terrible the smell is.

well i think some people have this problem you can't do anything about it.

The reason why they do it is first no one can smell their own body odour, second they dont know they smell bad cuz they cant smell it. They would care if they knew.