Sometimes earlier, at about 3pm.
December 22, 2010 8:45 AM   Subscribe

How can I tell the coworker I share an office with that he has terrible, terrible foot odor?

Important info:

We are not really friendly. Polite, but not really friendly (to be honest, he drives me crazy - he's sort of a rough and tumble type, thinks guns are cool, makes wierd comments about women and I am nothing like any of that). I share the office with him and one other person, who I get along with a bit better, although we don't talk that much and don't take lunch together.

I would like to say something, but I also don't want to create a bad situation here. So, so far (a full year) I have said nothing.

Human interest: the odor usually peaks at about 4pm, and is when I can smell it from my desk, instead of just when I am near him.
posted by anonymous to Human Relations (28 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
wait, is he taking his shoes off? or can you smell it through his shoes?

If he's taking his shoes off, just ask him to stop. It's not weird to be squicked out by people wandering shoeless through a professional environment.

If it's the latter...yikes.
posted by peachfuzz at 8:55 AM on December 22, 2010


You and other person need do do this together. On a day when you can smell his feet, say, "Hey, does anyone else smell feet?" And then the other guy can say, "Yeah, I noticed that too. Where's that coming from?" Then you can be like, "Bob, I think your feet stink. Do you want us to buy you a pedicure?"

And then just make a habit of mentioning it every time you smell it.
posted by hermitosis at 8:56 AM on December 22, 2010 [1 favorite]


Can you shift this happy task of discussing employee hygiene to human resources? I believe this is one of the reasons they're paid the medium bucks -- to successfully navigate conversations like these without generating a lawsuit.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 8:56 AM on December 22, 2010 [15 favorites]


Is he taking his shoes off? If he is, tell him to put them back on. If he's not, and the smell just sort of appears, you could put a couple of Odor Eaters in an envelope and leave them on his desk, then feign astonishment when he asks around.
posted by Ideefixe at 8:56 AM on December 22, 2010


"How odd. Do you smell that? Every day, right around this time, I smell that. It's like stinky feet. Do you smell it? It always happens right around the end of the day. Gross! What is that?"
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 8:56 AM on December 22, 2010


He is a rough and tumble type?
Then this sort of thing shouldn't be too much skin off his nose.
Direct conversation, while maybe awkward for you, is likely the only way to make your point.
"Hey Stinky Pete, your feet are killing me and at 4:30 I've seen birds passing your window drop out of the sky. Anyway I can convince you to get that under control?"
There is always the go-to-HR route - which I find cowardly and counterproductive. Men's men (I think) respect direct statements - I know I do.
posted by ten year lurk at 8:58 AM on December 22, 2010 [2 favorites]


Later today: Hey, what's that smell? [to OK colleague] Do you smell something? [to Stinky]: Oh, wow, it seems to be coming from your shoes--did you step in something at lunch today?

Tomorrow: Hey, there's that smell again--maybe you didn't step in something, it might just be ground into your shoes...

Next week: Man, I gotta break it to you, those shoes are not smelling good. Do you mind looking into a new pair or disinfecting them or something?

At least that's how I envision this gambit running. You could also do the ol' anonymous note thing, but he'll probably suspect it's from you or the OK colleague and may just ignore it. This way, you can bring up this embarrassing problem without making it sound like you've been silently judging him all this time (which you have, but that's not great in the realpolitik of the office).
posted by Admiral Haddock at 9:00 AM on December 22, 2010 [9 favorites]


Assuming this is negatively affecting your work environment/productivity, then your boss needs to know about it. Tell him/her about the impact of the smell on your work and try not to get personal about it. If you're lucky, your boss will know how to handle this delicately. Don't hope for too much -- most bosses are really bad at this. HR is not always the best resource, but consider bringing them in if your boss doesn't do anything about it and it's still an issue for you. Good luck.
posted by drinkcoffee at 9:04 AM on December 22, 2010


You shouldn't tell him! Someone else should. A manager or someone in HR.

The management should want employees to maintain acceptable levels of hygiene. Management will also not want to risk confrontation between workers. As a manager, I have had to have similar conversations with people a few times. As a manager, I would much rather do it myself, than have one employee confront another.
posted by Flood at 9:10 AM on December 22, 2010 [5 favorites]


Second the Llama - HR is well equipped to handle this, plus it sorta takes the awkward part out of it.
posted by brownrd at 9:18 AM on December 22, 2010


When my uncle was a young man in England, someone left an anonymous note on his desk, saying something to the effect of: "You're a wonderful guy, which is why I thought I should let you know that you need to take care of your body odour." He really appreciated being told and appreciated the consideration the other person showed by not embarrassing him with a face to face conversation.

YMMV.
posted by bardophile at 9:24 AM on December 22, 2010 [3 favorites]


I think getting HR involved is going to escalate this to levels you might be loath to go. Yes, they are well equipped to deal with this, but, frankly, I give them 50-50 odds on letting slip (explicitly or implicitly) who got them involved--and believe you me, I would be pissed if someone went to HR instead of just telling me that I need to stop doing XYZ. Pissed.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 9:24 AM on December 22, 2010 [1 favorite]


Print out this thread and put it on his desk.
posted by ecorrocio at 9:24 AM on December 22, 2010 [2 favorites]


to be honest, he drives me crazy

It's more than just the foot thing, then. What you need to do is wrap all of this up in a neat package, and go to your boss with a complete, cohesive plan, ready to go. Take away all the reasons someone would have to tell you "no."

"Hello, boss. I'd like to move to a different spot in the office. For reasons XYZ, I think I can be more productive if I sit elsewhere. Here's my plan for moving, which I've planned to do so I disrupt the office as little as possible. Here's when I'd like to do it, which I've also planned for minimal disruption. And here's how I'm planning to deal with the potential pitfalls and changes to day-to-day routine and communication."
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 9:33 AM on December 22, 2010


If you take this to HR or a manager, there's a good likelihood that they're just going to draft an email to everyone with vague reminders about consideration for others and being mindful of proper hygiene, and this guy could very easily not catch that it's a message for him. I vote for the out loud, "what is that SMELL?" tactic, and do it every time it happens. Even get up and walk around, sniffing to try to locate the source.
posted by lemniskate at 9:35 AM on December 22, 2010


I worked once with "Stinky Pete". Poor guy had an actual medical condition that made his feet STINK!!! It turns out he was VERY SENSITIVE about it. We learned very quickly to dismiss it as in his case it was a huge social stigma for him to overcome.
I guess I'm saying to put yourself in his shoes, but maybe that's the wrong metaphor! Anyway, think about how he has to cope with it. That sort of thing is not carried through life with a badge of honor by anyone.
posted by No Shmoobles at 9:36 AM on December 22, 2010 [2 favorites]


Why is no one honest anymore? What's wrong with taking him to the side and being honest with him? "Hey, Joe, can I talk to you a sec? You probably aren't aware of it but you have a problem with a foot odor." Had a similar problem with a person with extremely bad breath. Maybe it's just my outlook, but then again I think guns are cool too.
posted by JohnE at 9:44 AM on December 22, 2010 [1 favorite]


put a loud fan in your office and make him approach you. Tell him there is a foul oder coming from that direction and you don't know what it is but the fan has helped.
posted by Increase at 9:45 AM on December 22, 2010


Or be honest and tell him; almost like you'd tell someone that they have a bugger on the tip of their nose. Most people will appreciate it. If you tell him with kindness, his bad reaction is not justified.
posted by Increase at 9:47 AM on December 22, 2010


If there's only you and one other person in the space with Stinky Pete, how can he NOT guess who went to HR? Better to deal with it yourself, with or without your other neighbour.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 9:50 AM on December 22, 2010


Or be honest and tell him

This so often ends really badly because when you tell someone they stink, they take it very personally. It's important to separate the smell from the person, and to treat them how you'd like to be treated.

What's worked for me, as a supervisor, is to pull the person aside and say that I want to talk to them about something that will be a little awkward. This prepares them. Then the magical words: “there are times when the odor of your body is too noticeable.” It's nice and gentle and so much better than giving them the label of Stinky or having Body Odor. Also, everyone's body smells; it only becomes a problem when it becomes too noticeable. It's the difference between saying “you stink” and saying “you sometimes stink enough that people notice.”

to be honest, he drives me crazy

But then if the foot odor is really just one more thing about this crazy coworker, definitely follow Cool Papa Bell's advice and talk to your supervisor.
posted by rhapsodie at 10:27 AM on December 22, 2010 [4 favorites]


Be an adult and actually talk to him about it! I bet he already knows that his feet stink, but since no one has said anything to him about it for over a year maybe he doesn't realize everyone else can smell it too. Leaving odor eaters on his desk or initiating a fake conversation seems childish to me.
posted by Ranindaripley at 10:32 AM on December 22, 2010


The point of using HR or a manager as a go-between may be wise, depending on his personality and the culture of the company. If he's someone who may take this personally or treat you differently (worse) due to approaching him, it's worth using a third party.

Otherwise, the only way you have to escalate this is to go to HR later, and by that point your coworker will know who told them about it, and then have two axes to grind with you instead of one: You'll have brought it up, and you'll have told someone else about it.
posted by mikeh at 10:44 AM on December 22, 2010


I just want to add to the mix that you're dealing with human dignity when it comes to this and sometimes it's worth suffering a tiny bit rather that shaming someone. I don't think that's the whole answer, but just want to add it as a consideration.
posted by Paquda at 12:05 PM on December 22, 2010 [3 favorites]


Print out this thread and put it on his desk.

Please don't. To me, that seems like a very passive-aggressive way to avoid having a conversation.
posted by twirlypen at 1:26 PM on December 22, 2010


The problem with being directly honest is OP has no other relationship with him, really. If you have an ongoing relationship with someone with lots of stuff surrounding it, a glitch like this could be potentially buried under other interactions, jokes, shared meetings, experiences, etc.

With this it would be the defining interaction between two people who work together in a confined space.

If it were me, my awkward-o-meter would do spirals and I'd keel over.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 2:50 PM on December 22, 2010


This is what your manager gets paid huge bucks (no, not really huge at all, but even so) to deal with. Meet with your supervisor, and expect supervisor to resolve this. Pete needs new shoes, daily clean socks and a daily bath. Deodorant works on feet if daily bathing is insufficient. You may find that a fan and some air freshener will help a little, but you shouldn't have to deal with this at work.
posted by theora55 at 5:55 PM on December 22, 2010


I doubt that foot stink is a protected class, but even so you should NOT attempt to handle this yourself. If you could, you would have already.

Manager or HR.
posted by Lesser Shrew at 1:50 PM on December 23, 2010


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