“Work Stinks”
The Business of Furniture - 8/17/16 Edition
Stephen Says Column
Dear Stephen,
I hate the way my office smells! It’s a combination of several different things. First, there are my co-workers who bring their stinky breakfasts and malodorous lunches to their desks. We have a lunchroom and break area for people to eat, but for whatever reason — and God knows it’s not because they’re working — people love to eat at their workstations. Because of the hodgepodge of foods these mouth-breathers call meals even a salad with a strong dressing or a particularly pungent kale shake is beginning to turn my stomach. Watching some of these people eat is often as bad as smelling it — but that’s a different subject for a different time.It does not stop there. The full gambit of body sprays for both men and women also smell. Some are generically titled Old Spice spray, which the wearer has decided he needs to spray for a few minutes each morning just to make sure we know whether or not as soon as we walk in that he’s in the office. Another is the perfume that was surely marketed as a “hip, young” scent but makes the wearer smell like a prepubescent 12-year-old playing dress-up, contribute their share to this unique bouquet. I am at the point where these smells are beginning to affect me. You may love chicken curry for lunch, but I hate smelling it near my desk. And your girlfriend may love your cologne, but I do not want to taste it every time I inhale!
Am I being a crank? I mean, if I can no longer eat peanuts on a plane to be considerate to someone with a peanut allergy, how is this any different?
- Too Nosey to Mind My Own Business
“NO EATING AT YOUR DESK”
Dear Too Nosey,
I feel your pain. Well, maybe I smell your pain. I know exactly what you’re talking about, and I hate it too. I have always been particularly sensitive to smells; I hated my Aunt Irene’s perfume so much that I would hide whenever we were supposed to go over to visit her. I also have dealt with this problem in the workplace. My old boss at Haworth splashed himself in so much Brut I could smell him from the elevator. I also worked with a woman who was a serial dieter and would eat the foulest smelling things at her desk. When I asked her why she always ate at her desk, she freely admitted she was just too lazy to go to the break room, which, in turn, led to quite the little row — not one of my finer moments.The point is no one wants to walk into their office and smell the half-eaten remains of an Egg McMuffin and nor should they have to. I have made a very strict rule in my office that your Starbucks cup is the extent of what can be consumed at your desk. Now, I do not want to make it seem like I am some sort of cold-hearted taskmaster, but the truth is I
Ultimately, I think it should be everyone’s responsibility to make sure they are not smelling up the office, and if people are not worried about how the rest of the office perceives them, then there is not much to be done outside of making hard and fast rules.
judge you by what I smell you eat and smell you wearing. I also make choices about my own life with that in mind. I never eat at my desk, and I certainly do not eat anything that smells in public. I wear cologne (Eua Sauvage, if you must know), but I never wear enough so you know I am coming before I arrive.
Ultimately, I think it should be everyone’s responsibility to make sure they are not smelling up the office, and if people are not worried about how the rest of the office perceives them, then there is not much to be done outside of making hard and fast rules. When someone says “work stinks!” they should not mean it literally. So, if you’re the boss like me, it’s as easy as simply making a NO EATING AT YOUR DESK rule. If you are not the boss, then you have to get a bit more creative. Might I suggest you send them this issue and column of BoF with a little note that says make sure you read everything? I think that should work.
Stephen
You can send your workplace questions to Stephen at:
StephenSays@bellow.press.
Questions selected to be answered, will appear in this column. Please use the Subject: Stephen Says for all emails. Stephen Viscusi is a bestselling author, television personality, and CEO of The Viscusi Group, global executive recruiters located in New York. Follow Stephen on Twitter @WorkplaceGuru. Like Stephen on Facebook; and follow him on LinkedIn.
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