Friday, August 1, 2008

Funky Cold Medina












Okay I forgot to post about my two day plane ride!! Okay first somehow I missed when the officers got called to line up and board the plane so We ended up getting on last. Which was fine because all the officers sat in the front part of the plane. However all the good seats were taken like the window.  So me and my battle buddy Judy decide to sit together and I took the aisle seat since i always have to get up to pee! Well the Commander sitting near the window had serious BO (ive learned from my "other" counterparts that means Body Odor). I mean when he raised his arms you got this whiff of air that smelled as if the man was living in Kuwait for 6 months and had not bathed. I didn't really get much wind of it until he got up and passed me literally leaned over me to go to the bathroom. Poor Judy was stuck next to him for the entire first leg of the trip. So there was all this drama about why he smelled like that and why no one had brought it up to him, so on and so forth.  So after we got off  the plane when we arrived in Maine. I had a discussion with some of the male officers that shared a seahut with him over the past two weeks. They stated it was like that and he sleep right next to the door so it was the first thing you smelled coming and going. So my question is as a man why didn't you mention it to him or bring it to his attention. 

So we went to our next stop and we all had a chance to freshen up because it was like a day had passed. So when he got on the plane I said sir did u get a chance to freshen up and he said yes i did and proceded to put his chin to my nose so I could smell. Now it did smell like he shaved cuz it smelled like aftershave but not washed his pits. So the guy in front of me stated "you need to cuz you smell bad" Well the guy kinda played it off and hit him playfully on the shoulder. Well he ended up moving his seat to another window seat that had more room. So I took his window seat  and had the middle row open. 

Well I got into this debate with one of the females about how I was inappropriate and disrespectful for asking him if he had freshened up. I didn't think I was being disrespectful. I think it was wrong for everyone to laugh and talk about this man behind his back instead of approaching him or pulling him to the side and informing him of his BO. The girl went on and on about how I could get called to captains mass for disrespecting him and yada yada!  

So I made it a point to pull him aside on our next stop to ensure I didn't offend him in anyway. I stated what I said and asked him if it was offensive. He said no he moved seats for more room. I also let him know he did smell a little and he stated it was something he wasn't aware of and we were still cool! His words exactly.

So wouldn't you tell someone if they had a problem, I mean I know you all have ran into that person who has stinky breath all the time, what would you do?

7 comments:

Totally Inspired said...

well honeeeeeyy, i am not sure if the navy has a different set of rules, like the chick said, you could have offended some other officer that you didnt have a relationship with... so its good that you cleared it up with him.. BUT, now... for me, i have no problem telling someone that they have BO (I cant believe that you never heard that before...) there is a person at my job and we talk about her all the time.. so i decided to tell her one day... i mentioned to he rthat there is a medicated deororant that she can purchase... and i told her that i would let her know if it wasnt working out.. she wasnt too happy with me, but i was trying to be nice.. who wants to go around stinky... and the bad part about people with BO is that most of them dont even know it..even when they put their nose under their arm. they cant tell.. that amazes me.. so anyway, i had to tell the chick a second time that she was still funky.. and that was months ago.... she is pregnant now... and do you know she STILL stinks... so it sounds like she just isnt going to change her hygene habits.... but the bottom line is, thats her problem.

From WTB to MTB...Robyn's having a Baby!!! said...

HILARIOUS... You told her a second time and she still didn't change. She might need to move to france or somewhere. And someone got her pregnant do they smell to how can you lay down on top of someone with stinky pits!! GROSS

Ashanti said...

It's a touchy subject. If it were any of my friends, I would pull them to the side and let them know in a heartbeat but with other people you have to make sure your not being offensive and disrespectful or at least that they do not take it that way.

I had a co-worker that I worked with for years and her breath was horrible. It took a while for me to mention it in fear of hurting her feelings. Eventually I pulled her to the side and found out that she had a gum disease that was causing the ordor. You just have to be careful.

Classygyal said...

WOW! LOL! Funky Monkey huh?

I consider myself to be a pretty straight forward kinda woman, but I don't know if I could have told the man his stinks. I wouldn't be worried about going to know Captain's Mass, I mean what are they going to say? " You are being punished for telling a man that stinks that he needs to wash his @$$?" WHATEVER! I guess the situation is so funny because I could imagine you saying it so innocently. It would have been priceless to see that!! I mean at the end of the day, one of the guys should have pulled him to the side privately to tell him about. No one should have to walk around stink if they are unaware of it. Now, if they are aware of it...that's a different story.

Well I hope CDR Funky Monkey got some deodorant cause...dang...nobody should have to smell that!

Hangyakutya said...

Lol, it's a complicated situation. Although, I think, this was the only way to solve the problem.
I have heard something about your armed forces, that there is no difference between men and women, and that is good. But on the other hand, men are genetically necessitated (if this is the correct word) to suit the women's requirements. If a woman says something about the BO, a man will run to get a shower and will do everything to evade this situation in the future. If a man says something about an other man's odour, he will think that it's just a joke, and nothing will be changed.
You do well if you are very nice and careful, when you speak with your own commander... :) Although, you did a good job. All future travelmates of the cmdr must be grateful to you :)

Brooke said...

I feel you on letting him know about his BO, but to be honest I don't know if I would have been brave enough to let him know that he smells. I deal with smelly people all day with working on a construction project, and it's easy to tell the guys out on the site that they stink because they know it but figure that it's ok because they are all outside and everyone stinks. But my boss smells so bad and had horrible pit stains, yet he always insist on leaning over your desk to talk, it's so bad my eyes water. You would think he would get the idea when you start rolling your chair back. I just tell him that he is invading my personal space, he usually chuckles and moves back, but he really is super funky. He obviously washes because it doesn't happen until late morning and it's 100x worse in the summer of course. I actually gave him my fan to help keep him cool and hopefully keep the funkiness at bay, it didn't work. But how do I tell my boss that he stinks, BAD!

The Chemist said...

I come across this from time to time at work but its usually with different cultures dude to the food that is consumed and the pores leaking all the spices ect. Also not airing out the house after cooking. They are so consumed in the smell that they can not smell the odor or thinks it smells good. The whole deodorant thing is really North American culture lots of folks don't use deodorant in other parts of the world. So that comes into play..but if you from Maryland or something than that is a different story.

I think everyone wants to be told when something has gone wrong; something in your teeth ect but its all in the way people go about it...all that laughing ect is so Middle school (grow up). I think I would have told him but waited until no one was around so no one knew that I told him. Now it’s his call. Side note some people sweat so badly that they have to have their sweat glands relaxed with botox some peoples glands are over stimulated.