coworker stinks | Imamother

amother

Tue, Dec 30 2014, 4:42 am

I work in a small office. There is no manager on site at our location. There is no HR department.
I have a nice coworker who smells like dirty diapers all the time. He goes to the bathroom for twenty minutes at a time in our small office and he always, always smells really bad. He has mentioned that he has stomach issues and I really feel terrible. But I dread him walking near my desk. I can't use the bathroom at work. I don't want to say anything as there are very few people in the office so I feel we all need to be friends.
I survived my first trimester of pregnancy even. I did run outside numerous times to breathe. But no one knew it's because of him.
Help. Any ideas?

FranticFrummie

Tue, Dec 30 2014, 7:02 am

Next time he mentions his stomach issues, you could say something like "A friend of mine had that, and did really well on some probiotics she got from her nutritionist." and then sympathize by saying something like "It must be a very painful condition, I'm so sorry you're going through that. What does your doctor say?"

By gently engaging in the discussion, you two might be able to brainstorm something that would help.

Can you leave a lit vanilla scented candle in the bathroom to help with the smell?

amother

Tue, Dec 30 2014, 9:05 am

Thanks.. Might try that. Not to be graphic but the smell isn't the reason I can't use the bathroom. He leaves it filthy. I don't know if he knows about proper hygiene. But I will try to take the suggestion of maybe taking about possible cures for stomach issues next time he brings it up.

amother

Tue, Dec 30 2014, 9:53 am

He is probably not cleaning himself well. Consider leaving flushable wipes in the bathroom. Maybe he will start using them.

ChutzPAh

Tue, Dec 30 2014, 10:00 am

He's an adult who should be able to clean up after himself. Maybe post a sign in the bathroom to please make sure to leave the bathroom clean and buy a toilet brush and put it next to the toilet.

CantBe

Tue, Dec 30 2014, 10:06 am

Am I the only one getting nauseous reading this thread? Puke

(Maybe you should add TMI in the subject line as a warning Very Happy

)

amother

Tue, Dec 30 2014, 10:26 am

my friend told me that her dh has this exact problem. He leaves evidence on the toilet seat - etc.
To be honest, I feel bad for her (more than him and his stomach issues). I'm not sure that there is much to be done when dealing with an adult aside for hiring a cleaning person to have the bathrooms cleaned up often.

amother

Tue, Dec 30 2014, 11:18 am

I am the flushable wipes amother.

I agree that it is sad that an adult does not know how to keep himself and the bathroom clean. I also understand that you don't want to mess up the relationship with this man. There is no need to mention anything to him directly. So in addition to hinting with the wipes, you may also want to contact the manager that is offsite and mention that you noticed that every time you go into the bathroom it is dirty and that you would like it to be cleaned more often.
No harm in trying either of these. It might not solve the problem, but might lessen the odor to be more tolerable.

amother

Tue, Dec 30 2014, 12:26 pm

I'm the op. Thanks everyone for your reply. I will ask our office supplies company if they have flushable wipes which is a great idea. Is this something found in Israel?
We have a cleaner once a week. Unfortunately though I tried lobbying for more it was not possible. We do have a state of the art toilet brush Rolling Eyes

which is unfortunately disregarded.

Does he not feel uncomfortable walking around with this smell? Maybe he realizes? It's hard to understand. The bathroom really doesn't bother me as much as his smell.