Tuesday, April 9, 2019

More on Avoidance and Backlash and Being Around People

One more thing about avoiding triggers at home: visitors and workers. When someone is coming to your house either for social reasons or to do some work, there is nothing wrong with asking them to avoid wearing fragrance. However, this might not work. Sometimes people think they do not have fragrance on because they are not wearing perfume or cologne, but they have on a scented lotion or hairspray or they used dryer sheets on their clothes, etc. Educating people about this issue is difficult and often backfires.

For example, I had a co-worker who had a body odor issue. He decided to move to a desk right next to me. The person on his other side got one of those gel air "fresheners" and put a fan on it blowing across the BO guy and right into my cubicle. I very politely asked her to move the "freshener" and the fan so it no longer blew in my face. She did so, but a few days later, there were two more of those poisonous things on her cubicle wall. Yes, on the top of the wall, not in her cubicle

So, what to do?
At home:
It really depends on how strict you want to be. You have the right to refuse to admit people to your home if they don't comply, but then you could be stuck with things not getting done.
If I need to let a stinky person in, I do, but I turned on my whole-house air cleaner and open both doors.
I always keep my bedroom door closed so there is one room without whatever smells get into the house.
At the office:
I got a desktop air cleaner and made it blow right into my face. That helped somewhat.
Some people wear masks. My version was just to breath through a tissue or paper towel held over my nose.
Some offices will allow people to move to a different area, but I found that so many people wear fragrance that is hard to find a safe area.
If you can telecommute, that would be great.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Still Talking Avoidance

I briefly mentioned the office, which I found to be the worst place for my MCS. I worked in a typical "cube farm" where everyone...