Talk about body odor! This person has got that a-plenty, but. It is never an easy thing to talk to someone about body odor, except if and when it is about someone else other than for yourself or your friends, and unless you are the gossiping type. However, there might be ways in which one can address the issue, nicely and be helpful to a person who probably doesn’t even realize that they have such an issue.
Here now is one such example as seen through the eyes of Manley and Libby. In the tenth chapter of the Manley book. This is episode no. 10 in the series. Happy reading.
Chapter Eleven: Hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting.
 |
| Get the book, read the whole story |
The creamy, tasty poutine was beginning to get a bit cold and saggy in the sauce but that didn't take away from my cravings for it. What had caused us to ditch the joint so hurriedly was the alarmingly loud smell emanating from the girl, the one who had just come in and sat herself down at the table in the farthest (but not quite far enough for my liking), corner from us. The smell was unbearable.
“Wow! Can you believe that?” I said as we exited the building, "has she not yet heard of something called deodorant?"
"Or just plain old soap and water," Libby added.
"Maybe she doesn't realize that she smelled though," she pounced, in the girl’s defense.
"Come on!" I countered. "How could she not know that? She's as loud as a bull-horn at the county fair."
"To us, she may be as loud as a bull-horn at the county fair but to her, it may not be so pronounced."
"What are you saying?" I asked.
"Have you ever gone into a restroom?” She replied, “and have to beat a hasty retreat when the smell from inside hit you, or let me put it another way, have you ever used the restroom yourself, and just as soon as you were done and walked out, you turn to see someone else walked on in and have to beat a swift escape when the odor which you had left behind you, hits them square in the face?"
"Please, don't spoil my appetite. That is not the type of thing I want to be talking about over my lunch."
"Oh come on Mr. Chicken chest, well, if you think that is too gross for your lunch-hour conversation, let's try another analogy." "Okay, let's say it's garlic breath then. How many people are ever aware that they have that before others start resenting them? Or until someone kind and caring points it out to them?"
"So what exactly are you saying here?" I asked again.
"I just think that we might have gone about it in the wrong way."
"And what is the right way as you see it, Miss Lib?"
"Lib? Where did that one come from?"
"Off of my tongue, it just rolled that easily off of my tongue, why?"
"It's just that no one else has ever called me that except."
"Yes? except who?”
"Never mind that, let's get back to the point at hand."
"No, I want to hear this, except who?"
"My mother, she always calls me that, satisfied?"
"Maybe we should have told her," she continued.
"Are you crazy? You mean you want us to Walk up to her, to this total stranger and say: hey, you stink?"
"No, that is not what I'm saying, not like that, not in those words, or in that tone. Put yourself in her shoes for a moment here, if everybody just keep on running away from you, beating a swift escape every time they get anywhere near to you, not taking the time to talk to you, (nicely), and tell you what the problem is, you might never know, taking the garlic analogy into consideration here."
"So you mean, you want to become her angel of Mercy? You want to go save her from the demon which she likely doesn't even know that she has?"
"Not really, but everyone does need a friend sometime, and maybe we could be that friend to her, befriend her and guide her into something better than that."
"I don't want to be any friends with someone like that."
"Like what? She is a human being, a living, breathing person with a beating heart, with feelings like you and me."
"Why can't her folks teach and guide her, why has it got to be left up to others to do it, why me, or you?"
"Maybe she has no one here, she could be here in this city all by herself you know, just like many of the people whom we pass on the street, or sit beside on the bus or even in the classrooms daily. She might just need guidance, she might just need a friend."
"What if we should just give her some deodorant? You know, What if we could just stick it somewhere where she is bound to find it? She'll get the message, don’t you think?"
"No, no, you don't do things like that to people, that would even be worse than if we just leave her alone and letting her be, and that is what everyone seems to be doing already as it is, and that is not helping her, right?"
"So can we just get back to doing just that: leave her alone and let her figure it out for herself, and let's just eat what's left of our meal?"
To be continued.
What're your thoughts on this story? Please give us your feedback in the comments area below. Thank you.
That’s it for today, my friends, come again tomorrow for yet another episode in this series. Be the first to know when we post. Subscribe, follow and share.
Get the Manley book here. And read the whole story, on your own terms and time if you prefer, get the Manley story.
Previous Next
Extra, extra. On this day in history
Mon. Feb. 4th
2004 - The social networking website Facebook.com was launched.
1997 - Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh Penguins) scored his 600th National Hockey League (NHL) goal during his 719th game. Lemieux reached the milestone second fastest in history. Gretzky had reached the plateau during his 718th game.1993 - Russian scientists unfurled a giant mirror in orbit and flashed a beam of
sunlight across Europe during the night. Observers saw it only as a momentary flash. 1952 - Jackie Robinson was named Director of Communication for NBC. He was the first black executive of a major radio-TV network.
1824 - J.W. Goodrich introduced rubber galoshes to the public.
1789 - Electors unanimously chose George Washington to be the first president of the United States.
Disclaimer.
Note also: Some contents on these pages/post are/may be the property of third party owners. We don't hold or claim any right to such contents. These contents are/may have been collected from websites considered to be in the public domain. If anyone has any objection to us displaying these contents here, just send us an email or leave a message in the comments area, and we will remove such contents immediately after verifying the claim. Thank you very much.
Also. In some instances, and in our writing style.
The feminine may include the masculine and the singular the plural, and such. Sometimes. Handle contents accordingly.
Comments
Post a Comment