A Question That "Stinks"

[Mr. DS]

I brought this up before or something similar but as a question of scruples, would you tell someone if they smell bad?  I would have no issue telling Option 2 (friends/family) but would have a hard time telling a nonfriend coworker or a stranger.  I have this issue in the workplace because one person during the holidays takes out a few pairs of boots that reek of mothballs.  I would love to tell them but unfortunately I find I just don't have the heart to and plus its a bit inappropriate at work. 

[Paquita]

I don't think I'd have a problem telling someone they have stinky mothball boots.  The stink I have trouble telling people about is personal odor, like bad breath or booty stank.  There are some people at work that have reaaalllly bad breath and they just happen to be people that like to get uncomfortably close to my face when talking to me .  I don't have the heart to tell them. 

I wouldn't have a problem telling my close friends or family when they stink, but I don't think they ever do.  My mom says it's because I love them and when you love someone you can't smell their stink.

[Trevor]

when you love someone you can't smell their stink.

So I take it that none of you love me then? 

[ImaginaryFoot]

3 years ago i was emptying my cat Squiggys litter box and my sisters boyfriend was about 4 feet away and i smelled HIM over the litter box. I had NO problem telling him to go take a shower

[Jack]

There's a girl at work who likes to have spicy food at lunch and, well, It's kind of obvious afterwards.  But no, I'd never say anything.  Who knows what kind of reaction you'd get, people are a screwy species.

[Flick James]

I voted only for close family or friend. It all depends on the values of your circle of people, and there's not exactly a right or wrong answer.

Guys are also definately different than girls on this one. Being ex-military, when you gotta live in tight quarters with a bunch of guys for six months at a time, you get over pleasantries real quick and have no problem letting a guy know "you gotta do something about that."

On a separate but related note, before my wife and I started dating, we were sitting across from each other at a mutual friend's weekly poker party. I had been working up the courage to ask this gorgeous redhead out for a few weeks at this point. She is fairly well-endowed up top and was wearing a top that was somewhat low cut. She had leaned over to one side of her chair and, unbeknownest to her (but very knowst to me), just enough of one boob creeped out to be, oh, well, "noteworthy."

Okay, this wasn't exactly something I didn't want to see, but I know she was unaware of it and probably wouldn't want it to go on, and I was fairly sure I was the only person who had noticed it at that point. So I had just worked up the nerve to stand up and lean over and was going to whisper "hey, just to let you know it doesn't bother me, but you might want to look down and take care of something." But she leaned back and the "issue" went away on it's own while I was in the middle of standing up, so I had to make up an excuse why I was standing up. "Uh, I have to go to the restroom, excuse me." Or something like that.

She never knew her boob popped out until months later when we were comfortably dating and in love and I told her the story.

[ulthar]

My mom says it's because I love them and when you love someone you can't smell their stink.

I don't think my wife ever got that particular memo.   

And on the general question, I'm reminded of:

Movies teach us so much...

[The Burgomaster]

At a company I worked for in the mid 1990s there was a woman who practiced little (or no) personal hygiene.  She had to be counseled by her Manager and the Human Resources Director.  I have had to reprimand and/or fire quite a few people in my career, but I've never had to counsel anyone on a sensitive issue such as personal hygiene.  That must have been a very uncomfortable meeting for everyone involved.

[ImaginaryFoot]

My sisters boyfriend i mentioned above got fired from an automotive parts assembly line job because he smelled so bad. This happened not long after the litter box incident