Cube neighbors with an extremely pungent perfume wearer

[Anonymous]

OMG. It's not good perfume, either. I can smell it through the cubicle. It's a little better when she's not there but still. But she's new. And I'm only a few months in. So it seems odd to say something. But I can't breathe. The headaches are bad.

WWYD?

[Anonymous]

Ask your boss to send a passive aggressive email to the whole office announcing a policy about avoiding strong fragrances out of consideration for people with “allergies.” That’s usually what happens.

(Sorry, PP, I’ve never seen this get fixed unless the boss is personally bothered by it.)

[Anonymous]

Yah this happened to me. I didn't have the heart to say anything to her since she is an immigrant from a West African country, and I have some idea of how it would land (from me, a white guy) to tell her she smells to much.

So I bought an air purifier and a little fan to keep the air moving in the right direction.

That worked, actually.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yah this happened to me. I didn't have the heart to say anything to her since she is an immigrant from a West African country, and I have some idea of how it would land (from me, a white guy) to tell her she smells to much.

So I bought an air purifier and a little fan to keep the air moving in the right direction.

That worked, actually.

It sounds like your nostrils need some cultural awareness training.

[Anonymous]

These people don’t actually know how much they smell. I sat next to someone who reeked of perfume so much my eyes would water. We sent emails asking people to stop wearing strong scents, it did nothing, because I truly think she didn’t know how much she smelled. I eventually just moved desks.

[Anonymous]

Oh the drama. Headaches, eyes watering, can't breathe. You all would be a lot more credible if you were honest.

I don't like it when someone wears too much perfume either, but I certainly don't dramatize it like this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh the drama. Headaches, eyes watering, can't breathe. You all would be a lot more credible if you were honest.

I don't like it when someone wears too much perfume either, but I certainly don't dramatize it like this.

People get migraines from strong scents. It isn’t socially appropriate to wear strong scent to the office. Scents can be polarizing or triggering, no matter how good it smells to the person wearing it. I say this as someone who is a self-described “fraghead” and collects perfume/cologne. It isn’t dramatic to expect understanding and compliance with basic social rules for an office. Get real.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh the drama. Headaches, eyes watering, can't breathe. You all would be a lot more credible if you were honest.

I don't like it when someone wears too much perfume either, but I certainly don't dramatize it like this.

Easy to say until you hit the big leagues. You'll see.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh the drama. Headaches, eyes watering, can't breathe. You all would be a lot more credible if you were honest.

I don't like it when someone wears too much perfume either, but I certainly don't dramatize it like this.

People get migraines from strong scents. It isn’t socially appropriate to wear strong scent to the office. Scents can be polarizing or triggering, no matter how good it smells to the person wearing it. I say this as someone who is a self-described “fraghead” and collects perfume/cologne. It isn’t dramatic to expect understanding and compliance with basic social rules for an office. Get real.

I am well aware of all of that. What I don't believe is that this many people are so severely impacted by smelling perfume on someone. And if you are, please grow some balls and tell your neighbor. Complaining here is totally useless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh the drama. Headaches, eyes watering, can't breathe. You all would be a lot more credible if you were honest.

I don't like it when someone wears too much perfume either, but I certainly don't dramatize it like this.

Easy to say until you hit the big leagues. You'll see.

Big leagues?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh the drama. Headaches, eyes watering, can't breathe. You all would be a lot more credible if you were honest.

I don't like it when someone wears too much perfume either, but I certainly don't dramatize it like this.

People get migraines from strong scents. It isn’t socially appropriate to wear strong scent to the office. Scents can be polarizing or triggering, no matter how good it smells to the person wearing it. I say this as someone who is a self-described “fraghead” and collects perfume/cologne. It isn’t dramatic to expect understanding and compliance with basic social rules for an office. Get real.

I am well aware of all of that. What I don't believe is that this many people are so severely impacted by smelling perfume on someone. And if you are, please grow some balls and tell your neighbor. Complaining here is totally useless.

All it takes is one person in the vicinity. For me, probably 95% of scents don't bother me. For those that do, I might get anywhere from a stuffed nose and red, watery eyes to a migraine of increasing strength within 2 minutes. It is literally instantaneous.

I had a cube neighbor who wore perfume that gave me the stuffed nose, red eyes, and regular headache. I told my supervisor, who did nothing. His boss knew about it, but didn't intervene until she saw my bright red eyes while stopping by my desk. Perfume stopped after that, but I also became a target of that coworker.

I'd just get a fan and an air filter.

[Anonymous]

I once had a wonderful male co-worker who wore a lot of cologne. He had an office and the boss still had to talk to him about toning it down. You would get hit with it when you walked by his office if the door was open and it was so strong if you went in. He was middle eastern.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I once had a wonderful male co-worker who wore a lot of cologne. He had an office and the boss still had to talk to him about toning it down. You would get hit with it when you walked by his office if the door was open and it was so strong if you went in. He was middle eastern.

How dare you. As if that had anything to do wi... Oh wait.

Tracks 100.

[Anonymous]

Oh god, I would die. Maybe a tiny fan pointed that way?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I once had a wonderful male co-worker who wore a lot of cologne. He had an office and the boss still had to talk to him about toning it down. You would get hit with it when you walked by his office if the door was open and it was so strong if you went in. He was middle eastern.

How dare you. As if that had anything to do wi... Oh wait.

Tracks 100.

Oh relax. One of my favorite memories of France was the colognes the men wore. It's different cultures period. Not one but lots. All different. And some (fact) still smoke more (fact) so they tend to wear more cologne. The fragrance free is still pretty new to the rest of the world. Remember how long it took for smoking to go away and now everything smells like pot?