He inches his way to the operator’s room, which is adjacent to the VP’s room. He’s a tortoise bearing all the body aches a septuagenarian puts up with. To top it all, he carries with him an obnoxious smell that goes with him wherever he goes. He loves to talk and he converses easily and fluently about many issues – from intelligent subjects to nonsensical sex talks – but it would be a challenge to talk to him at length. He must be a matinee-look-alike when he was younger – tall and mestizo but today, he is simply an old man trying to fit into the world of the ‘new’ generation.
His colleague (the VP) would instantly give instructions to the secretary after he leaves – “Bayfresh! Bayfresh!” – (indicating to spray profusely) to ward off the strong smell the pitiful old man had left. This colleague is of the same age. The only difference is he ‘dips himself into pools’ of lavish perfumes that lingers even after he had left the room.
Everybody holds his breath while talking to him, gasping once in a while to take in air only to find that the foul smell had invaded the surroundings. But nobody dares telling him the problem though it has become a well-known fact that he does not smell good so beware. Perhaps it must be the feeling of sympathy that nobody shows him or acts out that he smells really, really bad.
Such is the case of this young man who went on a half-day leave because of a complaint by a co-employe.
Then some questions popped up:
Would you cover your nose in front of somebody who has bad breath? Would you still cover your nose when he has body odor? Or when a fellow has psoriasis, would you stare mercilessly? Would you be mad and talk about it, angry that the sight and the smell really upsets you?
Warmstone 
Aha, this is a big problem for me. My nose has no discipline with regards to strange smell as I mentioned in my response to your tag.
Basta ha ha-hatsing sya ng sunod sunod. grabe.
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Uy kawawa naman! Siguro dahil mestizo siya at matanda na at may amoy kaya lalong ini-exagerate ng ibang tao ang problema niya…para bagang: “O ano ka ngayon, dati pogi ka at kinakawawa mo kaming mga umi-itim sa araw at pango ang mga ilong at bansot sa paglaki”, di naman siguro ano? Ganyan talaga minsan ang mga tumatanda na, wala na silang pakialam sa “vanity” at manhid na ang ilong nila sa masang-sang na amoy dahil yan na rin ang amoy na inu-uwian nila at nakakasanayan. Pag may edad na, mahina na rin ang mga digestive system at minsan yan ang sanhi ng amoy sa katawan, dag-dag pa ng pag-inom ng iba-ibang gamot, minsan sumisingaw na sa katawan dala ng pawis at hininga ang kemikal na nasa mga gamot. Tulungan natin sila na may kakaibang amoy kaysa sa atin at payuhan ng mabuti sa pag alis ng amoy na di kanais-nais sa katawan at hininga sa malumay na pananalita at payong may halong malasakit.
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I had some pstients who really smell… if it was a a kid I would tell the parents if we (WE) can give him a bath… if it is an adult I tell him that it is OK to wash insidse the hospital.
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i think its rude to cover yer nose infront of someone who smells. kahit na totoo nga na the person smells, siguro kung ako, titiisin ko na lang. but if i know the person, ill talk to him about it. malay natin he’s not really aware na ganun pala yung amoy nya? sometimes that happens. kawawa naman sya, wala ba syang kasama sa bahay who would tell him about that? sigh.
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Hello BingSkee. Napadalaw lang. Ako ang may akda ng dating kwento ni MIKO DeLA CRUZ. Nagbabasa lang ako ng archive ko at napansin ko na ikaw ang unang unang nag komento sa kwento niya. 😛
Baka pwede makilink, heto po ang bago kong blog http://isaganix.wordpress.com Thanks
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Ito po yung old post na nabigyan ninyo ng first comment ever:
http://isaganix.wordpress.com/2005/11/16/maraming-salamat-po/
hindi ko alam kung naaalala nyo pa po 😛
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hatsing is bearable or understandable, rolly. 😀
oh, that poor old man, noypetes. it’s really fould smell he is emitting but it’s enjoyable talking to him. totoo na marami na siyang iniinom na gamot at marami na ring dinadalang karamdaman. i dunno if people are makin’ a fuss about his being mestizo and tall. what i do know is some are irritated, ang iba naman ay totoong naaawa. he loves to ask about my food recipes because ‘everything i touch is good’ ha ha sabi niya.
isa pa sa hinahangaan kong propesyon ay ang pagiging nurse, mon. sa totoo, napakahina ko sa mga amoy. one time, along a narrow path towards the store kung saan ako bumibili ng pansit, nakasalubong ko ang isang matanda at pinagsamang dumi at ihi ang amoy niya. i tried myself not to breathe. when i thought that i was far from him enough so that i could breathe, hindi pala. nag-linger ang amoy at naduwal ako. buti na lang at nakatalikod siya.
it’s rude talaga, chelsea. the old man’s wife left him. his kids have their own lives and he’s left alone. he was a professor in the International School before and it saddens me to think that he’s alone now.
hi, isagani. sure, link away. visited the old site. i remember that poem. sobra akong nadala nang una ko itong mabasa. thank you for returning the visit. hope you enjoyed your dalaw. sadly so, i cannot stay that long and blog hop that often but when i find time, i really visit. hope i can frequent all the beautiful blogs that i used to visit and lurk. 🙂
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Tell him gently without appearing to pass a judgement. No, don’t cover your nose but let him know all the same.
I once told a colleague about her bad breath and she took it well. She didn’t kill me with a dirty look! 🙂
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i can’t do it, bayi. i am afraid that would hurt him. he’s been in a lot of heartaches lately. i don’t think i’d be comfortable telling him. 🙂 i don’t know how to start.
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I’m glad I haven’t had any experience of needing to talk to someone with bad breath or BO for long. But if I know someone who has hygienic problems, I’ll talk to the person from a distance siguro. While they may say it’s offensive to act this way, I think it’s even moe insensitive for the person not to care about the discomfort he/she is causing people for being so neglectful of hygiene. I blieve it’s not too much to take a bath regularly and I suppose most effective deodorants are not that expensive.
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Well, whether we like it or not, one day, when we’re a LOT older, mangangamoy lupa din tayong lahat, hehehe. 😀
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Hmmm… medyo mahirap approach nito. Pwede kong sabihin if I know the person personally that he smells a bit bad. Pero pag di kakilala, would have to be more tactful. Kung medyo mabaho hininga, offer a mint and take one for yourself. At least di offending pati ikaw meron to somehow cover the whiff coming from the person.
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Kawawa naman. I also agree with the other commenters that covering your nose when he is around is rude. Can’t anybody gently tell him about this? Considering that you said he is intelligent, I don’t think he would be offended. How about his family? Why haven’t they told the old man about this?
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it’s not being insensitive when an old man or a woman cannot smell anything anymore, nico. problem is there is nobody in his family who cares.
oo nga, single. sad fact but very true. don’t you think it’s scary seeing people distance themselves from you?
i know the old man, i know the young man, too, ferz. but i cannot gather enough lakas ng loob to tell them.
his family had abandoned him, bugs. after all the things he’d done for them, here he is alone, nobody to tend for him, and tell him if he smells bad already.
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It’s bad manners to cover your nose when somebody who’s talking to you or who’s near you has underarm odor or bad breath. Never mind the ‘pain’ of smelling another person’s body odor; we must all treat others with respect due them. For all we know, we may also have body odor we don’t know of (well, I always ask my husband if my breath smells foul or if I have “kili kili power” — LOL). I like to apply the Golden Rule when dealing with other people as much as possible.
As for confronting the person suffering from some sort of disease that causes body odor, I think one can do this on a case-to-case basis. If that person is someone close to you, then I think it’s helpful to tell him/her that he/she has B.O. However, it’s not that easy when that person is someone with whom you have only diplomatic relations with.
*****
I remember my Mom telling me how she endured years working for and with a Chinese doctor-diplomat who has bad breath. She could not tell him about it because she didn’t want to embarrass him. And she also said this line, “Bad breath…even your best friend will not tell you!”
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Can some workers smell as bad as that?
I had sometimes find myself stinky while being at work—I get so uncomfortable with this that the moment I had the chance, I rush of towards home and take a shower and have perfumeries…
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I used to work with this lady who has kili-kili power. Everybody could smell her but nobody would dare tell her. She was hired to replace me while I went on mat. leave. But I had to train her for about a month before I left and I had to endure the smell. And me being pregnant, I was very sensitive to smell and I would sometimes feel nauseous. She was recently widowed, quite older than us (she had adult children) and I guess that’s why we couldn’t tell her, out of respect.
We just thought, couldn’t her children smell her and tell her that she stunk?
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hi, jayred. this reminds me of a Japanese visitor in one of the companies i was employed in. he was a consultant and he is more than 70 years old. i was wondering how a friend (a co-employee) can talk to him so close without even seeing her affected by the smell. when asked, she told me the technique was not to breathe for a while and by shifting her moves like turning her head, she would inhale. i was really amazed how she did that. 😀
yes, they can, major tom. he is aged and sick but the owner still allows him to go to work. an act of benevolence probably. but for me. the old man should resign and enjoy his last days at home.
probably, her children, irene, is like my co-employees children who do not care. they care only for the money he gives.
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It’s ok to be honest or frank to someone you know whose aroma is unwanted only if you know the person too well and vice versa.
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ok to some, not ok to another, jeff.
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Oh poor man 😦
most of the time, the reason why people with body odor are unaware of their smell is because they are immune to it already. That’s where friends come in handy (supposedly). I had a classmate in HS who had a terrible kili-kili power…me and another friend are the closest to her that’s why it was a big relief on my part when the other friend told her about her bad smell…I didn’t have the guts to tell her myself. Even nowadays I still can’t do it unless of course they’re family. I prefer to just endure the smell.
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or hold your breath till you can, verns. 😀
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