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Ooothatsmell--Page1--TimesUnion.
comWhat'sthisHOME:LIFESTORYTOOLSE-MAILSTORYTOAFRIENDPRINT-FRIENDLYVERSIONSPONSOREDLINKSBuyalinkOoothatsmellAtriple-Othreatlurksatwork:waftsofoffensiveofficeodorsByKRISTIL.
GUSTAFSON,StaffwriterClickbylineformorestoriesbywriter.
Firstpublished:Monday,May15,2006Somethingstinks,andit'syourofficemate'sfault.
AdvertisementWe'retalkingthatmidafternoonburnedpopcornorthenoontimetuna-and-onionsandwich;thebodyodorfromthemanwhogoestothegymatlunchtime,orthewomanwhobreathesgarlicseveralmorningsaweek.
Andwecan'tforgettheover-poweringDrakkarNoircomingfromtheguywhohasn'tfullyleftcollegebehind.
Or,plainandsimple,thecolleaguewithaflatulenceproblem.
Manyunpleasantsmellsspreadthroughtheofficefasterthannewsthebossissleepingwithhersecretary.
Theseoffensiveofficeodors,ortripleOs,havebecomeagreaterissueasmoreandmorecompanieshavemovedtoacubicle-basedopenworkenvironment,saysJohnPutzier,authorof"WeirdosintheWorkplace!
TheNewNormal.
.
.
ThrivingintheAgeoftheIndividual.
""It'sliketryingtohaveasmokingsectioninarestaurantoranairplaneandsayingthesmokingsectiongoestorow19,"saysPutzier.
"Thesmokedoesn'tknowtostopatrow19.
"Soworkerssitandsteamasthestenchwaftstheirway.
Somepeoplearemoresensitivetoodors,andothersarejustmoretolerant.
Butworkerstakenotice.
GreensandwichesAtLolaYoungblood-Hunter'sAlbanyoffice,burnedpopcorn,fishandChineseleftoversarethefoodsmostoftenpermeatingthestateworker'sspace.
Buttheworstodorscomefromthecommunityfridge.
"Peoplebringtheirlunchandforgetit'sinthere,"saysYoungblood-Hunter.
"I'vefoundgreensandwicheswithfur.
"Andthatmoldisfarfromfragrant.
Youngblood-Hunterhasthrownawayentirecontainers,tokeeptheodortrappedinside.
Badsmells,likethosewaftingfromthefridge,arehardtoavoid.
It'seasierforthereceptorsinournosetodetectastinkysmellthanapleasantone,accordingtoNeilGussman,newseditorwithChemicalHeritagemagazine.
TODAY'SADSClickonlogosbelowtoseeadsforSaturday,May20:AllTopJobsAllPrintAdshttp://timesunion.
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aspstoryID=481555&category=LIFE&BCCode=LIFE&newsdate=5/15/2006(1of2)5/20/200612:57:18PMOoothatsmell--Page1--TimesUnion.
com"Stinkislikeaschoolyardbully,"saysGussman.
"Ittriggersmanyreceptorsatonce,causinganalarmthatwarnsofdanger.
Likeabully,itoverwhelmsallthenicelittlesmellsthatcombinetomakeagoodfragrance.
"Whiletheofficeodorsaren'tenoughtomakeYoungblood-Hunterretch,itsparksofficechatteraboutwho,orwhat,iscausingthatsmell.
Thedistractionisquickandminimal,andthecomplaintsareallinjest,shesays,butimpossibletoavoid.
Inanopenoffice,there'snowayyouwouldn'tnoticesomeoneeatinglastnight'slobsterorGeneralTso'schicken.
"Whenyouaredistractedbyoffensiveodors,youstopworking,"saysThuyH.
Sindell,authorof"SinkorSwim:NewJob,NewBoss,12WeekstoGetitRight"andacareerandleadershipconsultantwiththeSanFrancisco-basedHittheGroundRunning.
"(You)thinkaboutwaystogetrelieffromthesmell,takemorebreaksandfindyourselfhavingtogetrefocusedonwhatyouwereinthemiddleofdoingbeforeyouweresorudelyinterrupted.
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