We still see each other fairly regularly Because Kids and its extremely jarring that he looks the same but smells wrong. But you can pry my Gain laundry detergent out of my cold dead hands. I am fairly active on Twitter (my personal account, of course), where my political opinions are pretty obvious, but I have no idea what hers are, and shes never brought it up. It is possible that due to medication or something else the coworker is newly sensitive to fragrance but thats not something the OP should have to worry about given what has already been done. The reactions of a dog that can smell illness in another dog can vary based on the type of illness and where it is. Here are 11 signs you're dealing with a toxic coworker. Then I read an article about misophonia and realized the problem was on my side. Im not sure the OP really can win with this co-worker. I may be off base, but if the OP was using an oil type product, and depending on where she used it, like on wrists or forearms, could it be lingering on the desk or office chair? My dog would always be smelling my pants. Remember that those with hidden agendas are . Its really hard not to come across as rude. My husband is quite sensitive to smell and he uses it so I thought it would be okay. I only mention it because while it is doubtful that is the case here, just eliminating things can be helpful. Um no. I havent used anything patchouli-scented in weeks/months/whatever! I dont know what shes smelling, but Ive done everything I can reasonably do to accommodate her needs. But there is a question of how much you can accommodate a co-worker as an individual. But doesnt hurt to try, and Alison and others offer great suggestions. It seems like you are already doing everything it is reasonable to ask a person to do (and possibly more). Im allergic to a ton of fragrances. Scents like patchouili do linger and seem to wed to clothes. I agree to use Alisons wording and put this back in her court. Something needs to break this association / habit. I do have a sweater that lives at the office, and I took it home and washed it after she complained. You are kind co-worker. Ugh, I am going to go here, but I will point out that indie oil scents tend to not be worn by white people, at least not in the majority non-white city I live in (do other cities have oil sales guys set up on the street?). Im super-sensitive to the smell of tobacco smoke, but this does go to show you that it can linger in unexpected places. I explained his cologne was overpowering and offered him the elevator while I would take the stairs. Although if someone (politely) asked me to use a different detergent because it was making them ill, I probably would. A bacon and Stilton jacket potato sounds amazing, though. This gesture is used by men to display a dominant, sexually aggressive attitude. Its also just impossible to guarantee and I know I for one would not want the responsibility of trying to make sure that I hadnt, say, hugged somebody who wore the offending scent, or that I hadnt had some piece of clothing I hadnt washed.also, I live in an apartment where I have to pay to do laundry, and share with others washing every single item of clothing in my house would be extremely prohibitive. Hopefully your boss can accommodate and move her, or you? Displaying Self-Serving Behavior. Theyre going to keep pushing and pushing until either they 100% get their way, or the person accommodating them says no, Ive done enough for you, thats all your getting., For the record, I love the phrase go pound sand. 10 Worst Cities for Spring Allergies. It seems pretty clear to me that she was referring to essential oils as a subset of perfume, and when she said she stopped wearing perfume she stopped wearing the oils too. Good idea! Stomach bug hit that night. I didnt know that about the ice cream thing! Preempt HR. I would believe that if this had been an issue prior to this one instance of OP using a perfume that the coworker found offensive; if OP uses patchouli scent regularly outside of work and her coworker is so sensitive that even the lingering smell on her jacket is unbearable, it would have come up before now. Don't let on that you don't want to help, or you think she's stupid, since that's not helpful. Therefore, I only bring it up to people if I cant avoid the person and just deal with it because I feel that I shouldnt dictate how others live their own lives. I think you could explore the suggestions of others above about fragrance in unlikely places like a coat or jacket, or on your chair. Shes done more than is reasonable. :(, He even complained once a full year! . If they are lucky, someone else will make it, or if they wait long enough, the decision will make itself. We talked to ear, nose and throat (ENT) physician Tony Reisman, MD, to find out what your sniffles mean and what you can do about them. I get mean vibes from her too. My brother worked for years at Subway and CONSTANTLY reeked of it and his car, and his room I still cannot walk into a Subway without feeling sick. I may be slightly fixated on that part because I have an unheated detached garage and it snowed last night. Before I purchased the humidifier I googled it & found other was somy house won't be so dry. For instance, if the other dog has a tumor, your dog may sniff around that area all the time and may even lick at the area of the other dog. I also wonder if those smells are lingering in your home as wellmattress pad? Im quite certain that nobody else around her is making this much of an effort to be scent-free. For me those are much worse than perfume. Life is hard enough without complaining about the scents that dont try to kill me. swatting away an annoying fly that landed on the nose. I so rarely tell anyone if their perfume or whatever bothers me (especially since it is often some other product that it scentedpeople who use scented detergents can smell really strongly to me) because it seems so loaded. The only solution we have is avoidance, and that is made virtually impossible by the laundry and cosmetics industries. I hope this works out and she backs off, but either way, as a scent-sitive person, thank you so much for going through all this effort. In those cases, if I have to eat around those people, I spend a LOT of time getting up to use the bathroom, flitting around the room to tidy/wash dishes, and otherwise avoiding and noise-covering as covertly as possible until it ends.). Go away. does it? as others mentioned, is not fine. It's much more probable that the perpetrator is simply unaware of how she appears to others. I doubt many people would exaggeratedly sniff their coworker and say ugh, Chanel No. Its not workable. Do you burn anything that smells like it, like incense, when youre home? Pretty certain the vent was the culprit as once we moved to a different area she didn't emit nearly as much noise. LPR causes post-nasal drip, a lump in the throat feeling, and can cause . Had any luck? I always smelled like pepperoni and pizza grease. LW treat this as a bullying issue, not a health issue, and proceed accordingly. Or make sure youre using a powerful, unscented detergent. The exaggerated sniffing, the pointed remarks about patchouli (which definitely smells NOTHING like lemon)those arent the behaviors of someone who is genuinely trying to solve an unfortunate issue. I didnt know the immune system could even distinguish between synthetic and natural molecules, but it sounds fascinating. Should I say something? Dolores had a desk about thirty feet away and told me to stop and that the smell was making her sick. It's driving me crazy at times. I had a coworker who happened to have her desk right below one of the (old) building's AC vents, and she would sniffle / cough at least several times every single hour. 47 1 Sponsored by Karma Shopping LTD Is your manager willing to get the company to pay for your shoes and chair to be professionally (and secentlessly) laundered? It doesnt smell anything like pee, but reminds me of the smell all the same. If you have a fabric covered chair for instance, the fabric might have absorbed some patchouli prior to this incident. Several of the ingredients they use are irritants to lungs and eyes, several others are known allergens, and some of them are linked to neurotoxicity. Helpful - 0 Comment jms67 You want it to stop. Huh. Same goes for Sambuca (or anything licorice-smelling) and lavender-gin cocktails. Im not trying to like, lecture you, but I really think more people should be made aware of just HOW BAD Febreeze is. Same when I was a bartender as a 2nd job. If your nose gets stuffy when the pollen flies, youve probably already pinpointed the problem: seasonal allergies. I only participate in consensual drum circles ;), OP, can I just say your comments have been cracking me up? Yep. If the coworker has a legit fragrance sensitivity than she needs to inform her manager and HR. Sometimes it helps and sometimes it's so bad my family says something to me. He probably has a sick crush on you. Hmm, I had no idea. lol, I still do miss the vinegar in the rinse, and I could never smell it. From what you described she just wrinkles up her nose and is not having an allergy problem. Oh! Its really hard to find an average drug store might have one type of unscented shampoo for babies. And the OP is herself sensitive to chemical smells, so the Febreeze would be harming herself. Sounds like your co-worker is on a power-trip. I much prefer that someone blows their nose. Out of curiosity, does the sound of a nose being blown bother anyone here? I went through a brief patchouli phase in my late teens. Shes good about remembering the week I mention it, but by the end of the following week (or especially the week after that), it starts getting bad again. I apologized and stopped. Many cleaning products made me gag or gave me a headache, I couldnt stand the smell of my old shampoo anymore, and I had to go sleep elsewhere the night my husband made cabbage in the crock pot. If shes complaining about OPs non-smell, and if shes fragrance-sensitive, spraying febreeze is like an act of war. Dolores found other things to pick on, but she stopped going after me for phantom scents and basic hygiene. I ate a piece of pecan pie on a trip to Australia when I was 19 and then got food poisoning and was sick for days. Hah, I was actually thinking about including that amusing bit of trivia in my response but decided against it. Not just hippies, but pagans of various stripes, persons of Indian descent (thats where patchouli came over from,) etc. I had a co-worker who used it and one day I gave her a ride to a work function and my car smelled like patchouli until the day I traded it in, especially on hot summer days at 5:05pm. In high school I had a job at a chain pizza place. It is going down the whole ethnic food route of complaining about stinky food. Your coworker constantly sniffing can accommodate a co-worker as an individual while it is going down the whole ethnic food route complaining. 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