Guest Author - Robin Rounds Whittemore
Imagine being on a school bus with the windows rolled down. A woman drives by in a car with her windows rolled down. About one minute later, the children on the bus can smell her perfume. Even the bus driver makes comments about it. This was a true story and I was one of those schoolchildren.
Perfume worn to enhance your personality and style is one thing. Too much perfume is another item to address. The amount of fragrance you wear should be controlled. One example would be trying to order food in a restaurant with a waitress that smells like she fell into a perfume mixer. When I was younger, I would go to perfume counters and try each perfume on all up and down my arms. You can imagine that it was mentioned a few times by the other passengers on the car ride home.
When you apply perfume, please keep in mind the other people who will be in smelling range. There are people that do not care for perfume, admittedly; but there are still others who are highly allergic and sensitive to scents. Even some people that are not usually allergic can have bad reactions to some scents.
There was a craft store in Tampa, Florida that had a few branches. One store placed their scented items right up front and all together. When I went to that store, which was closest to my house, I needed to know beforehand what I was getting. I needed to pick up what I was looking for, pay for it, and leave. There was no time to browse or I couldn’t breathe. The other store did not have the same concentration of fragrance and I could take my time shopping. Guess which store got more of my business?
Perfume in the workplace can also cause friction. There is the matter of telling the offending party that their fragrance needs to be toned down. Who is the best person to do that? Is it up to the person who is upset by the scent? Should it be up to the supervisor, manager or the human resources department? What is the protocol if the offender is a powerful player or the owner of the company?
No fragrance, or subtle use of fragrance, is best for the workplace. Consider wearing a lotion or body spray instead of perfume or cologne. You could even use a shower or bath gel and shampoo in the fragrance that you like. Save the full use of perfume for after business hours.
