Begin Rant / Nerd Rage
You know what really bugs me? Whenever a huge con like PAX is coming up people start posting a ton about what to bring and what to remember, etc. and every list I see always has some snarky comment about bringing and wearing deodorant because we are all smelly nerds, har har. Sometimes it's not even a list. Sometimes it's just people posting to social networks with things like, "Jesus you nerds, please for the love of god remember to put on deodorant you smelly bastards!"
This makes me angry because these people apparently have never spent a day walking around inside an enclosed space with tens of thousands of other people. You know what happens when you do that? The deodorant you put on in the morning wears/sweats off. Then people start to smell.
In fact, that doesn't even have to involve being around tens of thousands of people or enclosed spaces; these are all normal things that happen to people every day and not at all unique to con-goers or geeks. I put on deodorant every morning. I also walk two miles every day during my breaks. As a result of this, in the summer when it's hot out I end up smelling like I've never heard of that fancy substance called "soap" before.
Look, we know how to shower. We know how to put on deodorant. Even if you keep deodorant in your bag, it's still going to wear off extremely quickly in the convention center because you're mosh pitting in front of the Borderlands 2 booth for the three hours it takes to reach the front of the line in a convention center that is entirely heated to over a hundred degrees from sheer amount of bodies giving off heat. This is all after walking the equivalent of several miles before coming to rest at a line.
"Well, *some* people don't shower or put on deodorant, and I'm saying this for them." Oh, really? Because having someone who doesn't shower and/or wear deodorant is not only rare but not even a little bit unique to any one particular group of people (except hippies) and I'm pretty sure your sarcastic rude post directed at everyone isn't going to change their minds if they already don't have good hygiene.
So, I guess what I'm saying is...STOP IT. You are not the genius that solves the problem of why a large amount of people in a hot room start smelling bad. We all wear deodorant, and you, imaginary sir or ma'am, are a dick.
End Rant / Nerd Rage
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Thank you. This seriously pisses me off too. I've been to many conventions, and some of them even professional events filled with people in suits and carrying business cards trying to impress folks. People stink. A lot of people in an enclosed space are going to stink even worse.
ReplyDeleteAnd people threatening to spray "stinky" people with cologne or deodorant are invading someone else's space. I'm scent sensitive, and if someone sprayed me, even with some kind of good intention, it would seriously ruin my day.
I would punch anyone who sprayed me with deodorant or cologne. The best part about that is that the people that made jerkish comments about doing that a couple years ago don't realize they end up smelling just as bad as the rest of us. I remember people bitched about the annex because Tabletop was in there. Uh, hello, you have hundreds of people sitting for several hours in a hot room. What the hell did you think it would smell like?!
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