Kicked off bus!? :eek:

I just read that article too. The "offending scent" was Very Irresistable by Givency. I ride the commuter train every morning to work and I sure hope this does not start a perfume free policy for public transit. I think this woman deserves an appology. The matter certainly could have been handled in a much more emphathetic way.

I have noticed this trend.
As soon as people succeeded in stopping smokers from putting smoke into "their" air, they started trying to stop perfume-wearers from putting scent into "their" air.
I solved it by carrying a 1 ml vial with me to put little bits of perfume on me frequently all day and avoid dousing myself first thing in the morning in an attempt to make it last.
You know what? I think deodorant can be just as obnoxious on sweaty pits.
Why don't people complain about deodorant?

Perhaps at this point I should be glad that I'm the sillage slayer!
And yes I agree about some body sprays - it's usually the men who overdo it. And Lynx - bleeech!

If she were my neighbor I would definitely understand why they threw her off the bus- it would have been a matter of saving lives!! Some people just way overdo it. Though of course, I have no idea what happened in the case in the news.

I was thinking self-conciously of my Samsara Creme Rituelle + SL Santal Blanc combo this morning. Scents are not made today to be worn the way they were at some points in the past. We didn't cram large amounts of people in small spaces, in very close proximity, for long periods of time. We also didn't work or study forced to be within 1-2 feet of others for long periods of time, where the physical environment doesn't provide proper ventilation or

The issue of second hand smoke in apartment buildings is currently in the papers here. I for one would jump at the chance to live in a smoke-free building. Or, like others suggest, a building where the building code prevented smoke from entering my flat. I can feel myself breathing in smoke, and occasionally get asthma, nausea, or wake up with my lungs feeling funky because of it - this from someone who had never experienced asthma for over 28 years, and then only downtown on the worst smog days.

When people are pushing themselves on to buses / streetcars / subway trains (some days I'm not up for the shove to get on, and I've watched 12 trains go by... not even at the peak of rush hour) fragrance is a problem.

Another thread mentioned nausea, and for anyone who has experienced morning sickness, or nausea due to illness, drug side effects, or withdrawal, s/he can probably vouch for strong scents being an issue. After one bad experience with Brisk Iced Tea and nausea 10 years ago, it still makes me queasy, even if I don't try to drink it (and I never have had more than a sip since then).

The city I grew up in did not allow animals (other than assistance animals), things like bicycles or open strollers, or food / beverages on public transit. The city I moved to for college only allowed drinks in proper travel cups. Pretty much anything goes here, other than smoking, which occasionally happens anyway.

While some of you may live and work in environment where scent can be louder, I think being considerate about your application goes a long way.

Many places in Canada have 'scent free' policies already, but I have yet to have anyone look at me funny or say anything - I am fairly discreet all the time, and especially so when I am going certain places... which include 'scent free' zones. I think the policies are partly in place so that severe cases can be addressed. Much like 'courtesy seating, maximum of 20 minutes per customer, minimum purchase may apply' signs in restaurants. I have only seen these enforced a couple of times - disruptive homeless people and some late-night loitering teenagers.

If there isn't a posted policy, you get problems like the guy who posted on here about meeting someone else in a bookstore cafe for a mini sniffa, spritzing multiple scents in a short period of time, and claiming discrimination based on sex (wouldn't happen to two women, but straight men wouldn't do that) when asked to leave.

Also... strangely and unfortunately, Delrae Bois de Paradis makes my throat close up even if applied lightly with a roll-on, and I have no known allergies.

As far as the bad body odour issue - yes, it is every bit as disruptive, but it isn't an act the way choosing how to apply your scent is, effective anti-perspirants have been linked to cancer, and sometimes bad breath or body odour is due to illness or medication and can't be helped, as a quick summary of the issues. My parents had to say something to an employee one time about body odour, and have kept the employee bathrooms stocked with deodorant since then and it seems to have been resolved. Hard situation though.

Ok, I said a lot... I love fragrance and also realise how much it can impact others. Plus I am sitting here during my office hours waiting for students to appear =)

Oh - and if anyone has any innovative ideas on how to address / deal with this, I would love to hear about them.

In this case, I am on the bus driver's side, sorry, but this happened many times and that woman sounds like she's just sue happy. I always try to accomodate others. If they don't like what I am wearing, I won't wear it. I would feel hurt, but everyone has a right to their opinion. It is shared air.

There was a lady where I used to work who wore a sweet, cloying, overpowering perfume every day (always the same one). After she retired, the room in which she worked still smelled of her. But I'd still rather have that than B.O. any day.

Clemmie

Once I witnessed a young -- just past her teenage years -- woman being escorted out of the library where she was sitting using the computer and stinking to the high sky. It was some strong perfume, but her overdose was quite obvious. After the senior librarian politely told her that some other people were complaining about her smell and one older man was sneezing non-stop, the young lady tried to make it look like it was a racial issue and refused to leave. She was loud and her vocabulary was not very polite. A few minutes later two handsome cops arrived and escorted her out, and really I do not know what the whole thing ended up with. The smell itself was bad too, that's for sure!

Boy, you have to wonder if that would make her change to something else and/or tone it down. I mean take the hint, already. Public humiliation has got to be the worst, especially when you think you're really smelling great. It's frag hounds like that that give the rest of us a bad name.

I'm sure if it was plain old BO no one would have the nerve to escort someone out. Once I was in a theater 20 rows back from an unwashed student. I knew who it was because I had classes with her. The whole room was poisoned but no one did anything. that's one reason I started carrying decants with me. They can come in handy!

Like makeup, perfume is meant to enhance, not to overwhelm. I too ride a train to work every day and some teenager had surrounded himself with a cloud of something that was so overwhelming sweet that I almost tossed my cookies.

Sorry for my strictly off-topic post, but good to see you, Blue! :wave:

It sounds to me like this perfume-poisoner was being terribly selfish. As much as I love fragrance, if someone wears too much it can make me nauseauted, get a headache, sneeze, etc. As previously said, that behavior gives us fragrance-lovers a bad name, and makes us look like we don't care about others. That pisses me off.The stinky woman was irresponsible, and the busdriver did the right thing, in my opinion. Personally, I'd be horrified to know I'd caused such an unpleasant experience for people. I love it when others enjoy my scents!

for godsake strong perfume sillage is not second hand smoking!
I was raised with women and men wearing heady perfumes and colognes for the best and the worst, morning rush hours in France LOL
I m sure I ve felt nauseated at times, so many people don 't how to wear fragrances (specially men!), but none of it killed me!
there 's such a scary wave of dangerous puritanism and neo-reborn freaks going on, one day it 's going to be like the Middle-ages when after the fall of the Roman Empire only the arab world had perfumes and spices.

I have to wonder if she'd have been kicked off the bus had the smell been B.O instead of perfume.

Still, I do find that too many people drench themselves in scent with what appears to be some bizarre territorial power trip on their surroundings.
A sort of a passive aggressive attention whoring or a compulsion to somehow exercise some kind of control over others.
(assuming their nose works normally)

As has been said before, fragrance is supposed to be an enhancement, not a WMD.
I wear some pretty strong stuff but never have I been faced with that kind of reaction from anyone. I sampled Very Irresistible, which is the offending fragrance this woman was wearing, I believe,l and it is not strong, so the only question I have is just HOW MUCH did she have on?

Either that or the bus driver has a screw loose but surely she wasn't the only woman on the bus wearing scent?

OK she could be told to tone it down next time or she may not be admitted onto the bus but to be kicked off wtf,maybe anyone in this part of the world who stinks of unwashed armpits or ass crack will be frogmarched off the bus forced to their knees and shot throught the back of the head .I'm telling you the UK,USA AND CANADA it's George Orwell 23 years later than he thought .

On the one hand I do think there are some scents which are overpowering. In a confined space it can be unbearable. However we put up with stink all the time:bad breath, stinky armpits, old vegetable fat, car fumes, dirty foul tube air and so on. 'Scent free zones' I don't believe it. Soon from now we'll have no fart zones.

the car fumes polution in New York is at its worst than ever and believe it or not guys, the mayor has denied a large group of bikers a permit to ride in the city or they faced arrest, because they would disturb the traffic (totally at the opposite of what european cities are encouraging people to do!)
you can and should own big polluting cars but wear heady perfumes in public transportation or ride environmental friendly bikes is a terrible crime!

Unfortunately, while I agree with your assessment of the situation as "Puritanical," and while you personally have never been "killed" by scent, there are people I know, members of my family, whose throats close up from contact with various air-borne allergans, such as can be found in overpowering doses of fragrance. I personally have had asthma attacks from excesses in the air, such as perfume and cigarette smoke. I would love it if my downstairs neighbors did not smoke in their condo, allowing the poisonous air to eek into mine. I would also love it if people who wore heavy gardenia and tuberose fragrances wouldn't OD on them, since I am allergic to them. I LOVE perfume. I HATE when people try to restrict individual freedoms. However, I try to be sensitive. In essence, while nausea (particularly when you're pregnant) is no laughing matter, it's not just a matter of nausea.

I agree... and I'd love to wage a campaign aganst scented deodorants. All they do is draw attention to a hot sweaty pit This cannot possibly be what the wearer intended...?

I m very sorry for the members of your family whose throats close up but I seriously doubt they would face such a situation when someone wears perfume in a bus. I also hope they live in the coutryside and don 't live in a big city either or close to a highway because car fumes are probably a million times more lethal than any scents.
but we have to be serious here, dangerous second hand smoke and pollution cannot be compared to perfume at any level!
Perfume allergens are a problem for some people when in contact with skin! polution and smoking provoque lung cancer, scents don 't!
and before taking perfumed people off buses maybe we should do something for baby in strollers in direct breathing contact with car exhausts!

this perfume issue is not about heatlh hazard! it 's about people who just don 't like to smell others perfumes around and find it a social nuisance, nothing to do with health.