# You smell like ass. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 11, 2005, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-smell-like-ass/284244 "2005-01-11T18:39:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-smell-like-ass/284244/1 "2005-01-11T18:39:11Z")
We are required to see our clients on a walk-in basis. Meaning, it doesn’t matter whether they have appointments or not, we are required to meet with them in tiny enclosed cubicles for whatever reason s/he devises. Not really a big deal, even though it can throw off the rest of your day. The majority of my clients are hard luck cases. They have not abided by their court orders for at least a year, many do not have steady employment, many have other ‘issues’ the preclude them from paying their child support. I can handle clients coming in upset that we’ve suspended their drivers’ license. I can handle their frustration dealing with our system which make little sense. What I cannot handle is a client who smells of ass. Or unwashed body. Or decay. Or rancid alcohol. Dude, you have a stable housing situation. You have NO excuse for burning my nosehairs with your stench. No, do not touch me, you stank. Ma’am, do not breathe on me, I’m getting a freakin’ contact high just being near you. And you have kids with you? Damn. I just don’t get it. But it’s been an hour since I saw ass man and I still can’t get the stink out of my nose. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-smell-like-ass/284244/2 "2005-01-11T18:46:52Z")
Sometimes, people have fallen so far down that they need a telescope to see esteem. You’re just another token in the well of “fuck off!” that they’ve endured for a long time. ---
**Author:** ![Metacom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecae2f/32.png) [@Metacom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Metacom)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-smell-like-ass/284244/3 "2005-01-11T18:54:02Z")
Have you considered dropping a subtle hint? Next time one walks in, simply pull one of [these](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/detail/-/hi/B0000DCBDQ/qid=1105470046/sr=2-2/ref=sr_2_2/104-6087253-8205547) out of a desk drawer. If they look at you funny or otherwise question it, simply say that you have a cold and don’t want them to catch it. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-smell-like-ass/284244/4 "2005-01-11T18:56:45Z")
A little touch of oil of clove under each nostril and you will be good to go. Or cinnamon. Or peppermint. You get the picture. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-smell-like-ass/284244/5 "2005-01-11T18:56:46Z")
Sounds like you are doing a good job for need people. Maybe an air freshner and electric fan would help. If you work within a group, could you set asside a particular office cubical for these special cases. ---
**Author:** ![Elysian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c77e96/32.png) [@Elysian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elysian)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-smell-like-ass/284244/6 "2005-01-11T19:02:47Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > You’re just another token in the well of “fuck off!” that they’ve endured for a long time. **Liberal** , I hope you aren’t suggesting that **MissTake** has a “fuck off!” attitude towards his/her clients, or that s/he is part of the problem. She sounds like she has plenty of empathy towards her clients, saying that she understands their frustration dealing with a system that makes “little sense,” and her willingness to work with them even if they throw off her whole day. I think it is perfectly reasonable to expect someone with a house to have proper grooming habits, or at least smell like they didn’t shit their drawers. And I think it’s perfectly reasonable for the person who has to deal with these odors on a daily basis to come on the SDMB and gripe about people who exhale marijuana when they have children with them. I don’t, however, think it’s reasonable to accuse her of not giving a fuck about those people. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-smell-like-ass/284244/7 "2005-01-11T19:03:17Z")
You just reminded me of a guy who used to go to my gym named Steve. Steve had really odd personal hygiene. He would change to his workout clothes, work out real hard and get crazy sweaty, then throw those clothes into his gym bag. The gym bag would go in the back of his truck where it would stay until he needed them again. After about two months, the stench was so bad that he could literally be smelled from 20 feet away. The stench was so overpowering that one time I walked by him and a wave of nausea swept over me. Enough people complained that the gym’s management finally terminated his contract and told him to get lost. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-smell-like-ass/284244/8 "2005-01-11T19:05:34Z")
_notes location, complaint_ Is this another thread about Randy Moss? ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-smell-like-ass/284244/9 "2005-01-11T19:06:22Z")
I know what you mean. I work at an animal hospital and quite often we will see clients who smell worse than their pets. It is definitely not the pets because it’s obviously very bad human B.O. and we often take the pet into the treatment room for a better exam (and so we could breathe). We have small closed exam rooms and have actually experienced eye-watering, nausea and gagging from the smell. When they finally leave it takes hours to get the smell out of there, copious amounts of Lysol spray does not help. I would rather smell Parvo bloody diarrhea or rotten flesh with maggots than that really rank human B.O. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-smell-like-ass/284244/10 "2005-01-11T19:11:25Z")
> [@Elysian](#): > > **Liberal** , I hope you aren’t suggesting that **MissTake** has a “fuck off!” attitude towards his/her clients, or that s/he is part of the problem. She sounds like she has plenty of empathy towards her clients, saying that she understands their frustration dealing with a system that makes “little sense,” and her willingness to work with them even if they throw off her whole day. > > I think it is perfectly reasonable to expect someone with a house to have proper grooming habits, or at least smell like they didn’t shit their drawers. And I think it’s perfectly reasonable for the person who has to deal with these odors on a daily basis to come on the SDMB and gripe about people who exhale marijuana when they have children with them. I don’t, however, think it’s reasonable to accuse her of not giving a fuck about those people. You misunderstood me. I’m not saying she’s a monster. I’m saying she’s a gnat on a camel’s ass. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-smell-like-ass/284244/11 "2005-01-11T19:14:43Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > You misunderstood me. I’m not saying she’s a monster. I’m saying she’s a gnat on a camel’s ass. On the 1-to-10 scale of “complete and utter asshole,” you normally run about a 7 or 8. Today, your every post has been pegging the meter at 10. Fucking jerk. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-smell-like-ass/284244/12 "2005-01-11T19:17:03Z")
> [@Lord Ashtar](#): > > You just reminded me of a guy who used to go to my gym named Steve. You have a gym named Steve? Cool! That’s my gym’s name too! ---
**Author:** ![Elysian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c77e96/32.png) [@Elysian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elysian)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-smell-like-ass/284244/13 "2005-01-11T19:23:39Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > You misunderstood me. I’m not saying she’s a monster. I’m saying she’s a gnat on a camel’s ass. Wow. I guess I understand you perfectly now. ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-smell-like-ass/284244/14 "2005-01-11T19:28:27Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > Sometimes, people have fallen so far down that they need a telescope to see esteem. You’re just another token in the well of “fuck off!” that they’ve endured for a long time. Whatever, asshat. If a client comes in asking for assistance, I’m more than willing to help as much as allowed. I will help them obtain motion papers, I will contact other agencies, hell, if a client asks we can get them into job training. Unlike some, when a homeless person walks in to our building, s/he is treated the same as a Fortune 500 CEO. And we let them use the bathrooms. If a client doesn’t have access to showers/soap/tooth paste, that’s one thing. When s/he has access, but still reeks of ass, urine, vomit, alcohol, that’s another story. We can’t request the client come back when s/he isn’t foul. We can’t have air fresheners in the client rooms. We can’t leave the door open when we’re in the teeny tiny rooms (unless the client is a noted safety threat- which, in some cases they are, but not in the manner which the rule is meant). All we can do is hold our breath as much as possible and move them through as speedily as possible, which isn’t fair to them. Last year a client came into the office during one of his non-meth high lucid moments. However, he reeked of rotting teeth, unwashed body, stale urine and feces, and feet. I can say I know what a dead body smells like, and this walking human smelled just as bad, if not worse. It was the one time I had to excuse myself from the room. I ran and tossed my lunch. Armed with super strong peppermint gum, I went back in and finished helping him. What else could I do? Excuse me, sir? You’re too nasty to help. Can’t do that. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-smell-like-ass/284244/15 "2005-01-11T19:31:28Z")
**MissTake** , I don’t know how familiar you are with **Liberal’s** posts but I hope you are aware he’s given to bouts of batshit insanity and that you should in no way take any of his rude comments to heart. Your nasal discomfort and subsequent rant are completely understandable and justified. His comments were not. Seriously **Liberal** , where in the fuck do you get off? ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-smell-like-ass/284244/16 "2005-01-11T19:36:47Z")
> [@Elysian](#): > > Wow. I guess I understand you perfectly now. I’m not sure you do. Nor do you understand the nature of a complete lack of self-esteem. It’s not a matter of whether or not there is soap available. It is likely that the bar has gathered dust like everything else in the house. It’s not a matter of inconvenience, laziness, mental retardation, lack of social skills, or poverty. It’s a matter of believing that your life is worthless and that the latest person to run from the room throwing up just blends in with the blur of all the others who already have. I’m not disparaging MissTake, despite the shuddering self-defensive recoils from the lot of you. I’m saying that to her, they are a major inconvenience; but to them, she is nothing. The whole world is nothing. They haven’t even the courage to kill themselves. They’re only waiting to die. The last thing that concerns them is her nose. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-smell-like-ass/284244/17 "2005-01-11T19:57:31Z")
If that’s what you’re trying to say, why don’t you just say it, instead of typing cryptic, sure-to-be-misinterpreted stuff? ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-smell-like-ass/284244/18 "2005-01-11T20:00:41Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > If that’s what you’re trying to say, why don’t you just say it, instead of typing cryptic, sure-to-be-misinterpreted stuff? That’s exactly what I did with my very first post: _Sometimes, people have fallen so far down that they need a telescope to see esteem. You’re just another token in the well of “fuck off!” that they’ve endured for a long time._ ---
**Author:** ![Metacom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecae2f/32.png) [@Metacom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Metacom)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-smell-like-ass/284244/19 "2005-01-11T20:09:41Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > That’s exactly what I did with my very first post: > > _Sometimes, people have fallen so far down that they need a telescope to see esteem. You’re just another token in the well of “fuck off!” that they’ve endured for a long time._ FWIW, I didn’t grok the ‘token in the well of “fuck off!”’ phrase at all. But I have been told I’m stupid and incapable of reasoning or reading. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2005, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-smell-like-ass/284244/20 "2005-01-11T20:14:24Z")
> [@Metacom](#): > > FWIW, I didn’t grok the ‘token in the well of “fuck off!”’ phrase at all. But I have been told I’m stupid and incapable of reasoning or reading. 😛 There are always multiple perspectives, given that our reference frames are subjective. For every pitting of a clerk, there is a potential pitting of a customer. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-smell-like-ass/284244.md?page=2)