To tell you about my awkward train encounter 5 mins ago?

[SundayCherry]

On a very long train up to Scotland. 4 hour journey, I’m 40 mins in and all seats are taken- everyone in their ticketed seat. I’m sat there with my book and a coffee when the lady sat next to me took off her shoes (bare feet). Well I feel mean but the smell is horrendous. A real sweaty cheesy feet smell that’s so strong. I dealt with it for about half an hour but it’s so difficult and distracting.

So I decided to buck up the courage (im not very confrontational) and ask the lady if she would kindly mind putting her shoes back on and as she speaks another language she basically said she couldn’t understand me despite me pointing at the shoes- she now has her eyes shut trying to sleep (shoes still off and against the seat of the chair in front)

I really can’t bear to put up with the smell for another 3 hours but there’s no seats to move to! There’s also lots of stops and I want to get comfy and not have to move seat about ten times when people come from other stops.

What should I do?

Sadly I have no funny suggestions to make but I am going to carry a Covid mask and some essential oils with me next time I get on a train.

Op it's often the shoes which smell more than the feet (the feet smell but it tends to fade in the open air but the shoes stay stinky, I find).

A bit extreme, but could you bear to pick up the offending items and, pinching them between finger and thumb, remove them to the toilet area, or the luggage area? Most likely she won't like that and will 'wake up', but if not at least you will have removed the source of 80% of the stink.

Good luck - what a vile situation. Some people have the skin of a rhino.

Sorry OP, this is such an awful situation but I’m really laughing at all the suggestions and drawing ideas 😂😂
I’d periodically get up and just wait for a seat to become available (although maybe not if they’re all pre booked from various stations along the way 😱), is everyone else feeling the same way do you think?
I’ve got quite a sensitive sense of smell so sometimes no one else can smell what I can if they’re not as close!

Totally missing point of thread but there's a gorgeous oil called Christmas in a bottle.
Smells orange and cinnamony. It's gorgeous.

Shameless place mark for updates

But a suggestion: say in a loud authoritative voice to your other neighbours “can anyone else smell something terrible in here?” , get some moral support, shame the person who claims not to understand English

Spray her with deodorant, if she’s bringing out biological warfare treat it with chemical warfare 😂

Grim like seriously who thinks that acceptable! It’s a rainy day today so maybe she has wet feet but I always carry about a million pairs on socks around with me on rainy days so I can change my socks frequently.

@SundayCherry Not much help but some hope for you here:

If you smell an odour for long enough, you eventually stop noticing it. This is because prolonged exposure to a strong smell is believed to saturate the olfactory epithelium with odour molecules to the point where information is no longer delivered to the brain. This is called 'adaptation'. Loss in smell sensitivity is only temporary and is particular to that 'over-smelled' odour. Recovering from adaptation depends on the individual but can range from a few seconds to a couple of minutes.

https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/anosmia-loss-of-smell

throw the shoes out of the window - I have a keen sense of smell, and I would not be able to put up with the stench! I am feeling your pain!

I know there are some adaptations to smells but sometimes they fail to work for me.
Is it just your carriage that is full ?
My husband travels by train often and he says everyone is in the one carriage and the rest is empty.

Squirt lots of hand sanitiser in the shoes. It’s the shoes that will be the most smelly.

I had this on a plane once and sprayed all around me with Chanel Number 5 that I had in my flight bag..... everyone clapped. Have you any perfume spray on you?

If I had any spray in my bag I would spray her feet. Regardless of what type of spray it was.

😆

YARN | Aw, geez. And you got the stink lines and everything? | The Simpsons (1989) - S07E04 Comedy | Video clips by quotes | b72bb71b | 紗 (getyarn.io)

Absolutely! Anything has to be better than cheesey feet!

yeah - I'm going with Guard or Diagram

Maybe if you spray something, everyone will clap 🙄

probably irritational but i hate this on planes-i know its a long journey but for gods sake at least wash your feet before getting on

Yes, I agree. She understands what you're asking. But maybe she's so used to her own feet that she doesn't really know they smell terrible (like some people don't realise they've got BO) and simply thinks you're being weird for telling her she can't take her shoes off.

Or - and I think perhaps this is more likely - she is just colossally in denial and agreeing to put her shoes back on would somehow force her to admit to herself that her feet smell like mature Stilton, and that by brazening it out she is keeping up the pretence to herself that her feet aren't absolutely honking.

I would never take my shoes off on a train in a million years, but if I did, and someone indicated that they could smell my feet, I would hurl myself out of the train window from sheer embarrassment, so it's beyond me how this woman can just shamelessly carry on shoeless.

That's quite brilliant.
Can you quickly Google MN favourite "GRIM" in as many languages as you can to add to it?

😂🧀🦶😂🧀🦶😂🧀🦶😂🧀🦶😂🧀🦶😂🧀🦶👏👏👏👏👏

I would spray her feet with deodrant

You've no Chanel No5?

I dont think a randoms cheesy feet is worthy

No indeed! I wouldn't waste it on that either!