Stinky Situations

DEAR QUEEN: I have a good friend who stinks. Literally, he smells. I often feel embarassed going out in public with him because we get funny looks. I would like to tell my friend without hurting his feelings...any ideas?-I'm with smelly




DEAR WITHSMELLY: This is a delicate situation. Body odour is a difficult subject to bring up, similar to boogers in the nose and plumber's butt. People are very sensitive about their bodies--how they look, how they smell, etc. 


In your friend's case, there are three possible causes for the chronic smell. 


The first is poor hygiene. In this instance there is very little you can do, short of saying something like, "Man, it's so hot this summer that sometimes I have to shower twice a day because I sweat so much. How about you?" Either your friends will tell you that he or she does not shower much, in which case you can encourage him or her to shower more often, OR your friend will lie but realize that he or she should be cleansing regularly. 


The second is deodourant that is too weak. Some men and women sweat so much and so hard that run of the mill deodourant doesn't cut it. In this instance you can make a comment about how you sweat so much that you need to wear prescription deodourant [yes, it exists] and ask if your friend has over experienced that problem. It is always easier to admit to something embarrassing if you're not standing out there alone with your shame, not that body odour is shameful. 


The third scenario has to do with eating habits. If your friend eatis a lot of curry, garlic, onions, and the like, this can cause him to emanate the scent of those foods. Next time you are with your friend, ask if he had curry/garlic/onions for dinner the night before. Make a joke of it, "Ya, I could tell. That stuff has a strong smell haha. Don't worry, I smell like curry for days after eating Indian food." 


No matter which of the three categories your friend falls into, this will be a difficult subject to broach. Whether or not you feel comfortable bringing it up depends on how close you are to your friend and how sensitive he or she is. If you do not feel comfortable talking about it, you only have two options: 
1. Suffer through the smell [and perhaps do not hang out with your friend in groups so others do not think that you are the source of the bad smell.]
2. Stop hanging out with your stinky friend.


Good luck--pbSrink