I Used To Smell Like My Job

I learned tips to help, but it still led to awkward situations

I had a job at Taco Bell during high school.

This was back when they made their taco shells in the restaurant instead of using today’s packaged version. My role was to fry those shells. I would drag a 40-gallon drum of oil and fill the fryer. Next, I would put the corn tortillas into a metal rack that would fold them to the right shape. Then, in they went, much like how french fries are cooked.

After a shift, I smelled like oil and grease, and it was impossible to remove. I would go home, shower, and still smell like the shells. I tried taking longer showers and scrubbing myself multiple times, but it never worked.

The same was true of the uniform. No matter how many times I washed it, the smell remained.

This created issues with dating. When my date opened her front door, you could see the brief wrinkle of her nose. And it didn’t help when the smell was in my car, too. I would lean in for a kiss, and she would lean back.

This wasn’t the only work smell I’ve dealt with.

I had a college friend named Steve who moonlighted at a mortuary overnight. His job was to go to houses with another worker and pick up bodies, and I would occasionally tag along.

Technically, I wasn’t supposed to since I was not certified, but I would help by setting up the van while the two others went in for the deceased.

The bodies didn’t gross me out, but the smell did. It was a mixture of death and formaldehyde with other chemicals I didn’t recognize. Evidently, this smell also stayed with me because my girlfriend at the time always knew when I was hanging with Steve.

There was a slaughterhouse near my father’s trucking business; the stench could make your eyes water. If it was that bad a mile away, I can only imagine how bad it would have been if you had worked there.

Many more jobs require dealing with strong odors, such as handling garbage or sewage. Garbage handlers will tell you it’s primarily the smell that separates those who can do the job from those who can’t.

Workers with smelly jobs say they get used to it.

The odors fall into the background, much like noise, until they’re no longer noticed.

It’s not just jobs, either. Maybe you have a friend who has several cats. You walk into their house, and the smell is overpowering, but they don’t notice it. Even if you mention it, they still can’t smell it.

Steve taught me some things he does to combat the putrid smell. He said he learned them from a nurse. One is to put a dab of Vicks Vapor Rub under his nose. Another is to pop menthol cough drops in his mouth constantly.

There are also some old standbys. Carrying a small container of coffee with you can help. Take a whiff whenever you need to reset your sense of smell.

Keeping things clean can help, as will the smell of your cleaning products. Fabreze isn’t on the list for me, though. It smells worse than the odor I’m trying to mask.

Has a smell ever kept you from taking a job?

After working at Taco Bell, I became far more aware of this. I decided you would have to pay me a lot of money if the job stank, and to be fair, some of these jobs do pay well — union plumbers, for example.

On the flip side, you’re not getting much for dumping the leftovers from a diner.

Smelly jobs are a fact of life. Someone has to do them; I’m just not sure it’s me. I’d keep hoping to catch a cold and a stuffy nose.