Someone said I stink

[Jen871]

This is more like a rant. When I'm doing the school run I wear the same clothes as I work 12 hour nights 8-8 and my son starts school at 8.45. I wear the same clothes to work because I work in a factory and I don't want to ruin good clothes.

The other day I was waiting for the teacher to open the door with some other parents, when I heard one of the parents say to the other that I stink. This annoyed me but I didn't say anything.

The annoying part is that these women don't work. They drop their kids off to school and then god knows what, they have no idea the 12 hour shift I've just done and how hard me and my husband work to be able to afford the luxuries we have.

I don't want my son picked on at school because parents are going around saying I stink. It's annoying as hell. I can't get changed after work because there just isn't time.

*That is just awful, after the utter nightmare of the pandemic, you’d think people would exercise a bit of common sense re zoonotic transmission.

A race to the bottom, on the point of hygiene, is the absolute last thing we need.*

Actually, germs are really good for you, especially children. The excess of antibiotics and cleaning products, anti bac etc, causes a lot of issues. A bit of dirt is a good thing for you.

DearFatties: A bit of dirt is a good thing for you.
.........

It certainly is. A bit, not a lot and certainly not all in one go or nearly every day.

@TunnelOfGoats

Or ask to change shifts so you do 6-6 or 7-7 for example to allow for a shower and change before taking your son?

In a food factory that rpobably won't be possibe as the machine routine won't wait for OP to be ready. She will need to clean specific parts at specific times. You can't change a multi million pound manufacturing system for one person.

And don't you think OP would have thought of that it it were possible? The rush for the school run can't be the best end to her working day!

@GreenWillow

Do none of you see the irony of wearing a mask for the school run/dousing yourself in hand sanitiser etc, yet rocking up covered with decomposing meat all over your body?

Do people still have to wear masks? I honestly don't know, haven't been out for a while.

Yes I do see the irony.

A bit, not a lot and certainly not all in one go or nearly every day. Well stop the world!

Gather up all farmers, all sewer workers, recycling centre staff, bin men, ditch diggers, motorway workers, rail line workers, child care assistants, foresters, gardeners and on and on and on and on... SAVE THEM FROM THE DIRT!!!

Do farmers get offended when someone says they stink though? The OP knows that she stinks, it isn't news to her so I really don't know why people noticing that is so offensive? If she doesn't mind stinking she just has to say yeah I've just finished work in a meat factory.

@Plumtree391 are you suggesting the OP is covered in dirt? It’s just a smell.

Strong perfume?

It helps smokers disguise the smell

Do none of you see the irony of wearing a mask for the school run/dousing yourself in hand sanitiser etc, yet rocking up covered with decomposing meat all over your body? Well I do see the irony of not having read OPs posts

Overalls. Smell. Cooked product. No bits of meat smothered anywhere.

Get a grip!

My husband worked for over a decade in a meat factory, slicing ham, beef etc. And he did whiff something rotten when he came home but when someone stinks because they're in their work gear then it's just a fact of life. I don't think anything of a mechanic next in line at the shop in overalls smelling of engine oil, or a farmer smelling of cattle or silage, or even a road worker stinking of tar.

Do you think these feckless, rude women realise it's work attire or do they really think you're stinking of being dirty rather than of the brine the meat's stored in? (That was what clung to my husband's clothes!)
Does your work have a uniform? Like a work logo fleece? When the local meat factory lets out you can clearly tell who works there as they have the fleeces or t shirts on and they leave their lanyards on too.
Would it make you feel better if the rude women could look at you and clearly see a worker, not a random stinky woman?

@BluebelllsRosesDaffodills

Strong perfume?

She's already got one, thanks

@PrincessNutella

Some people don't understand other people's reality. I used to work full time and another mother didn't understand why I didn't take days off so I could volunteer for the PTA. She was a stay-at-home mother. I just could not do it with my very intense job, but she stared at me as if I were a horrible person. I knew people were going to talk about how selfish I was and I felt as if I were shrinking. But what could I do?

You could do nothing.

I doubt if anyone would think you were horrible or selfish, you couldn't have been the only working parent of a child at that school.

I worked and never volunteered for the PTA (I would have hated it whether I worked or not).

I do get people saying that it will take longer than 5 minutes to completely get rid of the smell, but surely a quick sink wash and change into a clean tshirt and a pair of leggings or something would take very little time at all and would at least mitigate the smell.

You are presumably washing your work clothes each day so that they are clean for the next shift, so sticking the school run outfit in as well isn't going to be any additional burden.

If you're not washing the clothes between shifts then that really isn't hygienic.

@DearFatties

*That is just awful, after the utter nightmare of the pandemic, you’d think people would exercise a bit of common sense re zoonotic transmission.

A race to the bottom, on the point of hygiene, is the absolute last thing we need.*

Actually, germs are really good for you, especially children. The excess of antibiotics and cleaning products, anti bac etc, causes a lot of issues. A bit of dirt is a good thing for you.

I’d agree with you re a bit of dirt, but this is a strawman.

There’s a vast difference between a bit of dirt and being covered in decomposing meat.

…but you know that.

[quote DearFatties]@Plumtree391 are you suggesting the OP is covered in dirt? It’s just a smell.[/quote]
I didn't say she was covered in dirt. Of course not.

@CuriousaboutSamphire

Do none of you see the irony of wearing a mask for the school run/dousing yourself in hand sanitiser etc, yet rocking up covered with decomposing meat all over your body? Well I do see the irony of not having read OPs posts

Overalls. Smell. Cooked product. No bits of meat smothered anywhere.

Get a grip!

You do realise that any smell is in fact tiny airborne particles of the offensive substance reaching your nostrils?

GreenWillow "being covered in decomposing meat" don't you need to go and deal with something other than your goading hobby now?

Dear @Jen871, you are awesome! Night shifts are bloody hard, but 12 hour night shifts and then dashing home to pick up your son and take him to school. Gosh, I take my hat off to you.

My first instinct would be to not give a toss about what ignorant people think and/or say. However, this is obviously bothering you. Simplest, quickest solution would be to give your clothes a quick scoosh with some of this after work:

www.neutradol.com/products/deofab-aerosol-300ml

My in-laws both worked in a smoked salmon processing factory and this is what they used.

@CleopatrasBeautifulNose

GreenWillow "being covered in decomposing meat" don't you need to go and deal with something other than your goading hobby now?

What do you think is causing the smell?

I am horrified by the people suggesting lashing perfume or body spray on top of the smell of a meat factory. Do you realise how much more unpleasant that will be for everyone

Yes, body sprays and deodorants only work on a clean surface. I am sure the op is clean when she starts her shift but cooked meat smells and makes her and her clothes smell after 12 hours; particles of the cooked meat will also carry pathogens.

I don't know what the answer is.

@CaptainMarvelous

OP you shouldn't have to make any of the changes suggested here. You are working to feed the nation and raise your family. Be proud of that.

If they make a comment again I'd respond with:

"Yes I know. I've just completed a 12 hour shift in a meat factory so you can eat. Remind me, what is it you do again?"

THIS!!!

But, as school gate cliques / bitchiness can be very real I'd also speak to school to ensure that their kids are not teasing your kids if they heard.

You can tell the privileged posters on here a mile off!

I assume all the people going "eww smell!" don't have kids who go to school where parents are farmers, vets, dog walkers, horse riders, plasterers, plumbers, builders or anything of the sort?

People who do physical jobs will come home smelling of sweat, dirt and animals/dust/plaster/dirty water etc. Not everyone has time to come home, change and shower before doing the school run - if you work a job that allows you to flex your times, WFH etc. then you're exceptionally privileged.

Not everyone lives in that kind of bubble.

Good grief I dont think I have seen so much idiotic twaddle on a single thread in a long time. So few posters with any understanding of how shift work is done.

Jen871 'Please boss, can I start a few minutes early every day so I can have a wash at the end of my shift before taking my son to school'
Boss 'Yes of course, you can stand next to the person who is on the day shift until they finish'

People who have to come straight from work for drop off or pick up at school will smell of work. Dousing herself with perfume/febreeze/body spray will not help the OP. It will just add another smell to the mix. Some smells will get into skin and hair, nothing but a good shower or two will deal with it.

Chin up @Jen871, sometimes you just have to do what you have to do. The only thing that might help would be commenting so that these unpleasant people can hear that you have just got off a night shift.

Might also be worth mentioning to the teacher that comments have been made by parents about you in case there is anything said to your DS by other parents who have picked up their parents' toxic comments.