U.S. library bans offensive body odor
At middle school, one girl from my class' basketball team stands out in my memory. Her name was Roro (not her real name, of course). She was positioned as one of the guards because she stank; literally. See, we thought we'd concocted a brilliant, winning formula by positioning a girl with body odor to hound the opposing teams' forwards. Think of all the body contact, the sweaty pits and palms on a long, sweltering day. Thirteen year- olds are such mean creatures, aren't they? (Weirdly enough, we all forgot the outcome of the games. Maybe we blocked out that memory, out of adolescent guilt)
On an extremely hot day, which happens a lot when you live in this country, what's even worse than a broken air con? People with offensive body odor. It takes superhuman power to stop oneself from fainting whenever this occurs.
Libraries in San Luis Obispo County, United States, have had regulations banning offensive body odor since 1994, but the policy became law after the Board of Supervisors last month adopted an ordinance that allows the authorities to kick out malodorous guests. A strict code of conduct, officials argue, is needed to ensure that one patron's right to use a public library doesn't infringe on the rights of another.
"The point is to make the library a comfortable, safe place for everyone to use," said Moe McGee, assistant director of the San Luis Obispo City-County Library. (Maybe Governor Sutiyoso would be interested in enforcing such a law to accompany the public smoking ban?)
I would presume that Mr. McGee now has one of the most uncomfortable jobs in the state. How do you kick out someone for having BO? "Umm... Sir, we do apologize, but you have to leave this instant for breaching the Library Pollution Control Act."
Heck, how do you tell someone they have BO without insulting the person?
No matter how close you are to the person, no matter how good the intention, it will almost always come out the wrong way. That's why people around him or her usually suffer in silence, like a friend who for years kept a physical distance from her best friend.
I don't understand how people can walk around while emitting an unsavory smell. Some say people are used to the smell (but others aren't and we don't have to be!). Others say they've probably tried things but the problem simply persists.
People with BO, please take care of the problem. Once you're aware of the slightest whiff of rotten eggs emitting from your pores, take strict measures. There are things in the market to try: 1) traditional herbal remedies, taken orally, actually eliminate the problem for some people 2) deodorants and antiperspirants, but please, please, please don't overdo it.
Do not give up, for the sake of the human race.
Some interesting facts about BO from menshealth.about.com: Asians, although they sweat just as much as other races, have less apocrine glands, the glands that cause the bad smell. Roughly 50 percent of Korean people have no apocrine glands at all and only about 10 percent of Japanese people have any underarm odor at all. Japanese men with body odor in the past were exempt from the military! Black people have a slightly higher distribution of apocrine glands than white people.
Krabbe K. Piting