Sunday, August 24, 2008

Dealing with a smelly man and wild weather

A couple days ago, I hopped a bus downtown to hit up the REI sale that just started. About two stops after I got in, this guy sat down next to me. Hoo lordy, he had AWFUL body odor coming off him in waves. I tried breathing through my mouth, but then I started getting a head ache. Then I turned to my left until my nose was nearly pressed against the window, but that wasn't too comfortable either. Finally, I rested my elbow on the window ledge and had two fingers right under my nose in sort of a "thinking woman" pose. That seemed to work the best. Anyhow, every time the bus came to a stop, I mentally crossed my fingers that the guy would get up, but he sat next to me for the next 20 minutes, and got off when I did at REI. Ick! Funny bit -- a guy two seats in front of me was sitting next to a lady. A seat opened up behind him (and directly in front of me), so the guy moved back a row to have his own seat. But a few stops later, the lady got off, and he moved back up a row to that now-empty seat. I'm convinced it was because he was trying to get away from the rank odor ...

This morning -- thankfully during the handful of hours it was warm and sunny out -- I met up with my good friend S for some breakfast in Wedgwood at the Sunflower Bakery. The food was great, but our eyes were WAY bigger than our stomaches, so even though we split two small dishes (1: two buttermilk pancakes, along with a side of bacon for me; 2: a smallish cheddar-cheese omelet with potatoes and toast), we only made it through one pancake each and about half of the so-so omelet. Cool place, though. Anyway, around 1:30, it
suddenly started pouring down rain. I was twitchy to get in a walk after the heavy breakfast, so when the sun peeked out again about an hour later, I threw on a hat and a light raincoat and headed out to walk to WaMu to deposit some checks. I was just heading back from the bank when the heavy rain came back. I had to deal with the lovely feeling of rain sliding down my collar, and by the time I was halfway home, the thighs area of my jeans was so soaked that the fabric was sticking to my skin. Normally I'd take an umbrella in heavy rain like that, but I was thinking I'd be dealing with light showers at the worst, and I hadn't wanted to hold anything in my hands (or over my shoulder). Ah well, no harm done! The pic is a shot of the damage after I walked in my condo. Just another lovely Seattle summer day!

3 comments:

mugabo said...

Hi, Pooja. I came across your blog via my Google Alerts for Wedgwood entries, and have a solution for you re: smelly people on the bus.

Carry some Carmex or a little container of Mentholatum with you, and apply a dab on your upper lip just below the nose to mask the smell (my nickname for that area is called the "snot trough," but that's beside the point). Or you could get a little vial of clove oil from the Herbalist down on 65th and use that (it's what people in the medical field use to mask the smell of stinky patients). Wipe it off when you get off the bus.

pooja said...

"Snot trough," I love it! Good tips, though I'd have to be careful to be very subtle about applying it (and remember to remove it later). Luckily, though, this was the first time I had to deal with such a stinky person next to me -- and I ride the bus a lot. Thanks for the suggestions!

Anonymous said...

Oh, the pain of smelly people on the bus. I'm so sorry. I feel your pain. The Sunflour Bakery rocks. I love their salmon/avocado eggs benedict. Mmmm....