First of all, the analogy to body odor and food is ridiculous. Body odor is indicative of a lack of cleanliness, for the most part (I know, some people have metabolic issues, etc.). So I wouldn’t necessarily take the “you stink” approach, it would be more of a public health issue (bedbugs, lice, etc.). And as an ancillary point I might add that the dude smells strongly.
But if a guy likes rose petal soap and bathes with it, and others don’t like it… well, there’s not much you can do there except point out that it’s a strong smell, and might he minimize or change soaps? I’ve dealt with students from different parts of the world and this is pretty common.
Actually, at this time the most offensive smell was probably Drakkar and/or Polo slapped liberally on the faces of collegiate Lotharios on Friday nights. Cologne + sweatsocks + “that dorm smell” = not a good time.
No, but you said I was, despite making efforts to minimize the impact on others. And you equivocated those efforts with “Dude, that reeks.” If I was going to label anyone in the scenario an asshole, it would be someone who can’t better articulate their “issue.” I can’t really address such a poorly articulated complaint besides to stop doing what triggered the complaint, which sounds dangerously like bullying-type behavior.
And few arguing this point have given credence to the fact that many more people were complimentary of the aroma.
Some other points:
Yes, we had communal kitchens. But they were adjacent to study areas that were typically full of people studying or working. We had an informal agreement that communal cooking would be done on weekends because of the impact on others. Of course you could still cook there if you wanted if the kitchen was available, but the noise and aroma issue was something you had to consider. On more than one occasion I let students use my kitchen just because of that.
Cooking elsewhere? Please. It’s a college town. I didn’t know anybody outside of the university setting well enough to invade their home to cook food, and quite frankly, that seems like an excessively spineless way to acquiesce to the fact that somebody might not totally love the (temporal) smell of what I’m making. By that same token, why didn’t students that frequented smoky bars crash at friend’s houses?
calm kiwi makes an interesting point, and an apt one. For a society that trumpets the importance of freedom, some folks seem awfully restrictive when it comes to smell. And keep in mind it’s not me cooking curry in front of an unwilling smellee’s door. It’s in my cooking facility, with due diligence given to minimizing the impact on others.
Wow. That’s your prerogative, I suppose, but if you choose clothes that are comfy and to your liking, I’d argue it’s someone else’s problem if they don’t like it. That’s like me saying that I don’t like your username, and your posting style. Are you going to leave the board, or not participate in threads that I’m in? Do you really think someone saying your clothes are ugly trumps your belief that they aren’t?
You mentioned your agreement with Airman, and that’s fine if he agrees with it, but you do understand a lot of people would find that excessively restrictive?
I do agree with one point you make, and it is that Americans tend to be way too smell-sensitive (and I count myself in that number). Whenever I travel internationally I always notice that I smell a lot more stuff - people, food, everything. Here, there’s a whole industry dedicated to de-smellifying everything. Some things we can probably agree are worth minimizing (sewage), but what’s so horrible about smelling human smells? I know that’s something that I try to say to myself when I encounter someone who’s a little sweaty (here, it’s been over 100 degrees F for 10+ days and if you are outside for more than a minute, you don’t smell like peaches and cream).
I also hate the potpourri-infused shops. I always suspect they’re covering up some horrible odor, like a dead body. The smell is so thick you can actually taste it.