There is this girl at my school who I am casually acquainted with. She's in the class below me and very sweet and nice. The only problem is that she has the most overwhelming body odor that I have ever experienced.

A friend of mine, who is in her class, says that it is so bad that, if you sit on the same side of the room as her, it's all you can smell. The other day I was walking into a room that she was just leaving and the smell was just too much.

A few people have told me that I should say something to her, since none of her closer friends already have but I feel so awkward about it because we're not all that close.

What should I do? It smells like she hasn't showered in weeks but she's so nice that I don't want people making fun or her or talking badly about her.

Help!

I simply say, "Look, 9sey, you've had a hard day at work--you should take a bath and relax."

Just be honest. Take her apart and tell her you need to tell her something cuz you do care for her.

JasmineFire said:

you should sit down and talk to her when nobody is around and let her know. i thinks its wrong to not tell her instead of just letting her walk around smelly. she may have that disorder where she has a body odor she can't get rid of

Take her aside one day and weave this whole story about how a friend of yours had this body odour problem and nobody had the nerve to say anything and then look at her.

On a serious note:


1) Try passing her a note. Don't make it nasty. Just be completely honest on the note.

2) If that seems too seedy, then tell her no matter what the ramifications.

LleeLlee said:

omg. body odor is the worst. a customer came in last week... i swear to god she smelled like dead wet chickens. i had to leave the room or i was going to retch.

Imago said:

This is how I approached a girl in 7th grade...then we became good friends and now 30 yrs later we are still GREAT friends

Wrap a bar of soap in some gift wrap and give it to her.
I think she may get the hint.



...

fantasyislander said:

That shit is going in my signature

Imago said:

infamy here i come!! quoted in imago's sig line.

ThreadCula said:

yeah like that and then strike this pose

If it's that bad, she probably has a medical condition and is aware of it.

Walk up to them like this.....

omg this happened to me at a job i had a while back. 'barbara' had the worst odor i've ever encountered. people were actually requesting cubicles as far away from her as possible.

someone finally told her flat out. it was the kindest thing to do, under the circumstances. i mean, this lady smelled like the hippo tank at the zoo, i kid you not. poor dear.

When I was in 8th grade, we had a girl in our class who had that issue....most of the little assholes in our class called her "Skunk"....but the rest of us who weren't part of the "better than thou" clique pulled her aside and let her know without being nasty or mean....

Now years later during my first tour in Germany, I had a roomie who was Dr. FUNKENSTEIN!! His issue was just a lack of personal hygiene...so with him, after 3 months of literally being run out of our room by his stench, it was pretty much...DAYUM MOTHERFUCKER!! GO WASH YOUR ASS!!!

Mach said:

That's how I got my heart broken... twice

theodore said:

Who knew there was so much "psst...not to be mean, but you stink" note-passing going on in the world, with such profound effects??

if she's THAT good of a friend, take her out for coffee or lunch and just break it to her. i think if you're nice about it, the fact that you've made a special date to talk to her about her stank should speak volumes to her about what a serious problem it is.

and it could be that she has some kind of medical condition that prevents her from bathing as much as she could/should? it's a stretch, but one never knows. go into the conversation assuming there may be a compelling REASON behind her skunkiness.

FunkMistress said:

it wasn't that kind of note

Be like, "Do you smell that??"

Act all confused and smell around, smell yourself. Get her to smell around too.

If she doesn't clue in...follw the trail of funk to her than back away quickly giving her an omg look.

Or you could just say, "I'm sorry but you really stink".

Either way, she's probably gonna cry.




In all seriousness...I've had friends that have had bad breath, I never told them out of fear of upsetting them.
[Edited 2/27/07 10:22am]

perhaps you can leave the "overwhelming" part out


i guess discuss it.
that's the only way to determine if she knows she has a problem or not.
nothing quite as condesending as telling someone they have a problem
that they are already trying to deal with...

Yeah, I think the best thing to so is to take her to one side and tell her honestly, but not harshly.

Just let her know that you're doing this for HER, and not because you're a horrible person, lol, and make sure no one can hear.

Mail her a link to this thread
[Edited 2/27/07 11:25am]

AlfofMelmak said:

JustErin said:

that's kind of mean.....

Don't tell her...start a conversation with with some of the classmates, saying How in another class or high school or somewhere that you had to sit next to someone who smelled really bad....then the others have to make up something they experienced too, while saying "why can't people just use soap or wash every day, before coming to class...I hate to smell that....then maybe she'll listen and take a hint.

I just tell them..damn bitch u stink

DanceWme said:

that's the cold honest truth..

keep your stanking ass out of my officeeeee, unfortunately it was my boss and he fired me, honesty is not always the best policy

You could always fake passing out everytime she passes by....