Body odour
The issue of Body odour is one that is very important. Body odour makes people uncomfortable and yet is an uncomfortable topic to tread.
It is hard to tell a person that he or she has body odour. Even harder, to survive in the environment wherein the person is.
People have made jokes about how being given perfumes and deodorants is a snide way of letting a person know he or she has body odour.
I doubt the truth of that though as in secondary school, perfumes and deodorants were the commonest birthday gifts given and accepted by students. Even Val's day gifts had to have some sweet perfume as part of the package.
Nonetheless, the jokes may have an iota of truth as some people may have received gifts of deodorants and perfumes without receiving the message behind those gifts or even seeing a message behind the gifts, even with a message of 'body odour' at the back of the giver's mind.
The best way to let a person know he or she has body odour is by telling them. Yes. Telling. and of course, that's the hardest part. How will the person take it? How do you say it without making the person feel insulted? It is questions like this that prevent people from simply telling a person with body odour his or her condition.
So, we rather live uncomfortably with the person than broach the uncomfortable subject.
The other day at my office, the head of human resources called all the interns to broach the uncomfortable subject. One of us was reported to have body odour. She needed us to be more hygienic, spray more deodorant or perfume.
I am sure we all felt insulted as I did. I had not perceived a foul odour, at least not as strong as she had portrayed. It was like she had quietly subbed us.
She threatened us with the termination of our internship if the odour continued. We were to fish out the person with the body odour and ensure he or she began to be careful about it and intentional about smelling nice.
Well, right now, we have done nothing about it. Our internship may get terminated soon. To think that a thing such as a body odour could get five interns to lose job experience at the firm.
Body odour is a hard subject to broach and an issue quite important. Let's all try to smell nice and lose whatever body odour we may have.
- Chizaram Opara