We are both in our 20s and work in a close quarters office. I fr can’t stand it. I’m wasting my body spray using it several times a day to cover up the stench of her sit down air.
I have smelled it lingering in the office (and yes it is one distinct smell, obviously from one source) for a while but never knew it was her because she wasn’t always sat right next to me. We had a cubicle between us but they moved her down to put the new people together at the front of our row. Ever since then, it’s become blatantly obviously that she’s been the one stinking up the office with her stank cooch this entire time.
The worst part is she no joke gets up 12-15 times a day to use the bathroom. She’s been written up for it because by the end of her shift it amounts to 45-90 mins in the bathroom. Im not kidding. So not only is she constantly stinking up the bathroom, she’s constantly wafting it around!!! Like she walks in a way that is so exasperated that she just wafts the smell around and then she plops in her chair dramatic as fuck just dispersing a giant stink cloud every time she sits down. She’s like the definition of sloppy. You know how they make jokes that the smelliest people do the most with their movements? Yeah.
I also can’t express how bad the bathroom smell is. If the smell lingers for minutes after she sits down, you can imagine how long it lingers when that thang hits the air naked. I can smell from 5 feet away if she was just using the family style toilet (one toilet in a room). If she leaves the door too ajar, it will stink up the entire hallway.
I just needed to vent. I can’t do anything about it. But damn dude. How do you stink so bad ?!
Edit: Thanks to those with real suggestions and understanding! I’m quitting soon so ultimately it doesn’t matter but it was especially foul today and this was better than trashing her to a coworker. 🙂
Comments
Poor girl. With that many restroom breaks and smell could it be a yeast infection or something or some sort?
maybe get a small air purifier for your cubicle and talk to your manager about it, i feel bad for you op, it’s drives me nuts whenever i’m near stinky people let alone working next to stinky smells
Time to talk to your boss and ask to get moved.
Her nose blindness must be off the charts. She needs to see a doctor and stop assaulting her coworkers with that stench.
Fuuuuuuuck that.
Staple a dryer sheet to her seat cushion.
Definitely not normal unless she literally never takes a bath.
this sounds like a health issue.
Ask your supervisor or hr to get relocated because you are feeling more nauseous as time goes on being near her and are afraid that you will start throwing up, as you are already having gag reflex issues being near her, and that you are afraid that she will accuse you of harassment if you do throw up due to her smell.
If she’s peeing that insanely frequently and also smelly, she’s probably dealing with one heck of a UTI.
Give it a few weeks, hopefully she’s gone to the doctor about it. There’s no way she’s unaware.
BV has a bad smell but from what’s being described I think there’s a hygiene issue too. HR and let them deal with her stanky mackerel hammock
The best part about not being HR or your boss, it’s their problem to confront.
Request to be moved and let them know why.
Report to HR. This is up to management to address. It’s not acceptable to stink at work.
Having rank sit down air is insanity and then her passby wind is foul too 😩 nasty work
That number of bathroom breaks tells me she needs to be tested for diabetes. Even if it’s not 12-15 times and you’re being a little dramatic that much time in the bathroom during an 8 hour shift is insane.
I had a coworker once who was taking medication to help with fertility and she had a scent too. All I’m saying is it may be something else.
> I just needed to vent
Well, yeah, I’d imagine a LOT of venting would help. lol
But seriously, it seems like she may have a medical or health issue. (Unless there’s something about her personality that tells you otherwise.)
This issue should be addressed with HR.
“Sit down air” is hilarious
Can you overthrow her from the office? A coochie coup if you may.
Oof, she reminds me of this girl I knew from college who had the same issue. Come to find out, someone finally got sick of her stank and got around to asking her if she knew about the smell and if she was okay. She said she didn’t and thought everything was normal (nose blind AF to herself). Girl asked her about her hygiene practices. After a bit of back and forth….. Guys, she would wipe the wrong way, and had for the whole 20 YEARS OF HER LIFE!!. Nobody had taught her how to wipe properly as a child (raised by her dad who was too clueless to know better), and she never went to a Dr about it for a check up or anything. She thought it was Normal!. THE HORROR!!!
She got herself fixed up after that and finally got over her stank phase, but it was the first time it ever occurred to me that some people don’t know how to wipe!
Maybe the woman from your story does the same thing? Could also be a STI that she isn’t treating.. so may things can go wrong down there.
This literal thing happened to me in the navy, the most raunchy smell ever. It was straight up ruining my life! Covid mask with oils were my go to! We were LIVING in a small berthing on the ship with her. Eventually we got together, sat her down and explained her odor and she went high and right, called us b!tches and racists for some reason… I tried to tell her maybe it’s the perfumed soap she was using (I saw her shower items and assumed) she hated us and wouldn’t tell anyone why but it was death walking behind her going up the stairs. Or doing shipboard evolutions. Eventually we got a female “doc” on the ship and begged for her help and they got her on antibiotics probably because a month later it was gone. I can’t imagine the civilian world. That seems like an HR complaint though. I try to be patient with people because you don’t know how they were raised and I would want someone to tell me if I ever got that offensive. Good luck!
Sounds like BV potentially. It can happen for a number of reasons, from your body just being off balance to getting it from someone who has it, but may not know it.
She may not even realise it, although the smell is strong to others, it’s not uncommon for women to not realise this isn’t normal and needs medication to clear up. Hopefully instead of ppl constantly judging her and saying immature things like her “coochie stinks”, someone in the office or HR is kind enough to speak to her discreetly and tell her to see a doctor when she gets the chance.
Alternate idea than what I’ve seen from quick scrolling, but you could try a small hepa air purifier. Could say it’s for allergies. I got a big one for my dog that’s allergic to life, and it worked so well I got a second smaller one that stays in the bathroom just to get rid of bathroom smells. Bonus points for keeping air cleaner of common viruses and such
Time to talk to hr. Dont discuss it with anyone but hr. If you do it can get turned around as you being a bully. Goodluck
Maybe she doesn’t wash properly down there. Get HR involved but if you’re in a small office with no HR access then drop off an anonymous gift basket of Lime body wash, wipes, spray, and cream deodorant.
There was a woman in my office building who had the same problem and would stink up the communal bathroom for HOURS after using it. Incidentally, after one of the businesses closed down and moved out, the stink never returned.
Personal hygiene is usually a mandatory thing in dress code. Take it to HR.
The thread title 😂
I worked with someone like this it was wild. I’m not sure what the problem was because she was confident, outgoing, etc. She was overweight but not so heavy she was incapable of cleaning herself and did appear as though she showered regularly. Either way, tell HR
I’m sitting at work rn and this girl just came in and there is a strong stench of mildew and I just saw this post and feels like its fate
Honestly?
Short term solution is to put vicks on your upper lip or right around your nostrils. It helped me go through my dissections in class since I have an extremely good sense of smell.
Long term is to take it up to HR otherwise you’ll look like an asshat harassing another employee. But with the amount of times she is going to the bathroom, sounds medical.
I had a female coworker with the same issue…. I noticed it was way smellier when she would wear dresses vs jeans. But it smelled the same. It was disgusting. Sad because she was very nice and attractive.
Report it instead of telling her yourself so HR dont try to come for you.. Bring them into her cooch smell. If it’s that bad, then you can’t be the only one noticing it.
She needs to know bc it could be a health concern and if not… she fucking stinks and needs to deal with.
Sounds like a BV issue
OMG I worked with someone like this. And she knew it too and didn’t do anything about it.
Someone at work anonymously sent her a gift basket full of feminine deodorizer and douche totally humiliating her.
She told me once about how her teenage kids, being teenagers, didn’t want to hang out with her and she said “do I smell or something?!?!” I’d heard her say that several times so she definitely knew.
And yes, the bathroom. OMG. I’d have to wait like 30 minutes before going in after her. 🤮
I had a real crunchy garnola non-conformist type that worked on the other side of my cube wall and the body odor scent would creep through the wall everyday she was there. Thank goodness for work from home days. We were also forbidden from bringing in air fresheners, candles, body sprays, etc., since some people may have allergy issues with them. But we had to endure a person that smelled like a bad Italian hoagie from April through October. It wasn’t as severe in the winter months because there was less sweating, but it was still there. I started rubbing a little Vicks vapor rub under my nose every day like we used to do working in an old folks home when picking up the soiled laundry items. The situation became someone else’s problem when a floor reorganization was done and the offending party was relocated to another part of the floor.
Napoleon Bonaparte would have be into her. The rest of humanity, not so much. Good luck.
Why did I click on this post while eating a pizza??
Anonymously put a bar of soap with a bow on it on her desk
Or just hand it to her directly some people just need to know (although I find it hard to believe that she doesn’t have at least an idea)
HR is actually your friend here. Hygiene related issues are handbook 101 for any corporate job.
Go to hr about it
“I just needed to vent.”
-OP’s coworker’s crotch.
my boyfriend has someone at his work who was stinky until they complained to management or HR and they told the guy about it and voila… now he doesn’t stink
Does she perhaps have one of those BBL’s? I heard that’ll jack your sit-down air UP if there’s post-hoc complications.
This is the kind of letter that askamanager.com lives for
Put some peppermint oil or Vick’s under your nose.
Get an air freshener or air purifier for the bathroom.
Yikes.
She must be able to smell it, that’s why she goes to the toilet so often.
Is there anyone kind and mature enough to have a private conversation and say it’s out of concern for her health, and has she seen a Dr and to offer her some solutions such as suppositories to get her ph balance right or something.
It happens unfortunately to some women.
😕
Must be so embarrassing.
That’s enough for today. Good night Reddit.
I had a manager who once regaled me with the story of having to tell one of her employees that her coochie was stankin’. Turned out the girl had left a tampon in for weeks and hadn’t realized. (HOW???) She’s lucky it didn’t make her sick or kill her, but damn – how embarrassing.
Did anyone else read this in Chris Tucker’s voice from 5th Element.
My sister’s supervisor had a terrible coochie stank and after reporting it several times to the higher up’s the supervisor was made aware of the smell. She went to the doctor thinking it was a health issue and it turns out she has cancer. OP, you should definitely report it just to potentially save her life!
This is an issue for HR to deal with
Last year, I moved out of a house I was renting from 2015-2024. I lived with someone from 2017-2021 in that house. My roommate situation was always really shitty, but this one roommate was a really rough case.
Reading OP’s description of the stank brings me right back. The first two years I lived with this guy, he was mostly fine, but I’ve discussed with others that it was likely only because we had a woman rooming with us. Soon as she moved out this immediately changed.
This fucking dude had a nasty, nasty BO stank. From the front door, there is steps directly ahead that lead to the master bedroom on the right that he roomed in. To the right of the door was the living room. I could be in the living room on an entirely different floor and I could sometimes smell him if if he opened his bedroom door. Sometimes his stank would bleed into furniture, and the bathroom stank described hit home. I would avoid the upstairs bathroom for 45 minutes after he was in there, regardless of what the was doing.
I think his mental health just broke down over something while I lived with him, his room when he finally moved out required a haul away dumpster to clean out. Piles of garbage, dirty clothes, and just unholy foul smells from that room. Some of his bedding we found in the basement was soiled. Living with him was never a smooth ride, but that smell was something not of this world man.
I would really really hate having my office be a warzone or foul body odors. I would force management to address it or have them allow you to move desk or work from home more often if possible.
Uhhh, end rant. Godspeed to you in dealing with your stinky coworker.
It’s stinks, you’re venting, I get it. Why people hating on you when you’re being honest and getting off your chest is beyond me. It’s not like you are bullying her about.
You’re an aware it could be an issue or poor hygiene, regardless, you’re a victim of the odor.
I feel bad for both of ya’ll. And unfortunate that there’s no real nice way to say “you giving off a funny smell.”
Sometimes a coworker smelled pretty bad down there that her computer chair would STILL smell like it after she was gone for an extended period of time.
Thank god it wasn’t every day. I don’t know how you could put up with that!
Getting written up for going the bathroom is wildddd.
This woman seriously needs a doctor. Something is really wrong.
Somone I knew wayback started to stink in the manner described. Turned out she had chlamydia. So yeah, going to the doctor should be a priority for this poor lady.
You need to contact HR asap. It sounds like it’s affecting your work and that shouldn’t have to be tolerated, especially at a company owned office. I’ve found instances like these being taken very seriously at my job .
She clearly has a health issue of some kind if she’s going to the bathroom that often and has an unpleasant smell in the area where you know um she goes to the bathroom. Sounds like she needs help.
There was a gal at my last job that had an issue like this. I called her whale-meat, internally. I never saw her and I never wanted to, but I think she wore a diaper to ferment her cooch in.
Her stank was what I imagine a rotting whale carcass on the beach would smell like. It would make the 4-stall bathroom unusable for 15 minutes, and when it did disperse enough to brave going in it was still gag-worthy for another half an hour. She must have had one hell of a horrible infection she was ignoring.
Luckily she wasn’t on my team ever and I never did figure out who it was, but I suspect it was the same person who stayed on the phone with someone while she shit herself, left a diarrhea trail to the bathroom, and then unrolled her leggings and dropped a bucketful of diarrhea on the toilet and a 4 foot diameter area around it.
She probably has BV… she needs to go to the doctor, or it will not get better.
Someone should leave an anonymous, compassionate note on her desk, telling her she may need to see a doctor if she hasn’t already.
“Sit-down air”
I knew exactly what you meant somehow. Especially with certain chairs.
Wow.
Glad you could vent. Too bad your office can’t
She probably has BV and needs to see a doctor. Management or HR need to speak to her.
The same thing happened to me but she also was always cold so she either sat on a heating pad or ran a small heater under the desk all day. absolute DEATH 💀
I worked with a girl who had coochie smell. As a woman, you just KNOW the smell. Sometimes it was like she’d been playing with herself, other times it was period smell. I couldn’t stand being near her. Thankfully we didn’t sit close.
I feel so bad for her because this happened to me for a little while everyone around me could smell something foul. Turned out I had cancer down there and a terrible infection too.