I’ve been single for a million years, and as a single man with some deluded residual hope, I keep myself prepared to meet Ms. Right. So I have to (among other things) keep my underwear in good repair, get haircuts every four or five weeks, and keep my breath clean.
But I work with some grizzled old (married) men who have breath so bad that I can get nauseated from across the room. It’s like there’s a decaying, dead raccoon in the middle of the floor. How does that happen? It must either evolve over time, or there are a lot of women out there with inactive olfactory receptors.
Is my sample size too small? I don’t work with enough grizzled old married women to make a decent comparison, but the few I work with don’t seem to have the same nuclear-powered halitosis.
One guy I know, in his late fifties, has breath that, as the saying goes “would knock a buzzard off a shitwagon.” He takes pride in the fact that he never brushes his teeth, the few that are left, that is.
I suspect his misses can put up with it because she smokes about 2 packs a day and can’t tell.
All I have to say is…yuck. We have a couple guys here whose breath you can smell across the table during conferences - it’s awful. I have a really sensitive nose, too, so having to talk to them is akin to torture. I can’t even imagine having to kiss one of them or having to sleep next to one. Ick.
I used to work with a guy who actually seemed proud of the fact that the only time his teeth got flossed was when the dental hygienist did it every six months.
I had a former friend with Death Breath. It was because his teeth were rotting out of his head and he refused / was afraid to go to the Dentist. I’d offer him mints and he’d refuse them, whereupon I’d have to insist. When he was in my car, I had the windows open. Even at 30 below and at 100 above.
After having him stink up my apartment so bad one day that I had to spray off the furniture to remove the smell, I tried to have a talk with him about it. Couldn’t get past the excuses for not going to the dentist. But then, the man was nothing but a whole big pile of Neurotic, with excuses for everything. Which is why he’s a former friend.
Hey, this thread is better than the one where the woman scratched all the way to her brain.
Jesus, Chimera, that’s…well, that’s a shame.
In addition to the occasional close-talking smoker with bad teeth, some people are apparently just stinkier than others, too. The Wikipedia entry on halitosis had a link to this abstract about the “philosophical and practical aspects” of bad breath. It’s kind of neat that someone actually studied this. Here’s a quote:
Now, I have nothing but sympathy for people who have to deal with this problem that’s out of their control. Still, that last sentence gives me the giggles.
Basic answer to the OP: Because everyone is afraid to tell them or to make them do anything about it.
I have been elected by default or by choice on numerous occasions to speak to other men about problems like their breath or other personal grooming or behavioral issues. Sometimes friends, but most often on the job.
When we’re kids, everyone and anyone will tell you these things. Somewhere along the line as adults, people become chickenshits and won’t tell their best friend that their breath kills small animals at 10 paces, or that they have urine stains down the front of their pants, or spaghetti sauce on their tie, for fear of embarassing them or causing a scene. But damn, people! They’re already being embarassed by the situation! Step up, MAN UP, and tell them already! Especially you supervisors out there. That’s your job, and if you lack the courage to do it, then you should probably reconsider the whole management track idea.