On a recent trip to the local grocery store I was literally accosted by a little old lady trying to take "cuts". Now that I am a litte old lady it is embarrassing when one of my own thinks they are invisible, entitled or charmingly precocious. Not a good look if one is older than 3 or 4. It was extremely busy with check-out lines extending back into the miscellaneous clothing, hardware, shoe and jewelry counters. Actually if you are looking for said products, you have plenty of time to peruse the merchandise while cobwebs grow between customer and cart.
At any rate ignoring the looming conga line behind me she slyly sidled into the side of my cart and started chatting about how busy the store was, bla bla bla. She was "booming" this observation practically into my carefully masked face. I had to physically move backward while my pushing my cart into a defensive position. Meanwhile I could feel the animosity vapors rising from other customers. She pleasantly told the group right behind me "you go ahead and I'll just pop in after you", blithely ignoring the entire entourage who were starting to make growling noises. The way forward opened up and I bogeyed. I dared not look back, but at some point noticed she was no where to be found. I did overhear her tell someone she had been waiting quite awhile. Fake news. At any rate I am not sure if the mob terminated her or she just wandered off to test her "I'm just a poor little old lady" bit on some other unsuspecting body.
Rather a long intro to another one of my industrial hygiene challenges. Perhaps my point is that people are careful or safe when it suits them, but rather selfish when inconvenienced citing "fake news", "faulty science", "never happened before" mentalities. Or maybe there is no relationship at all.
Reality vs. perception creates many misunderstandings as we all have witnessed recently. One episode I experienced was when there a was rennovation occurring in the lobby of the building where many customer service reps were stationed. Normally a wide-open area; pleasant and interesting, it was also open to the public. Always something to see or some drama unfolding to get one through the workday. Medical emergencies and children unleashed were common as well as minor altercations over bills or utility shut-offs.
One fine winter day paint and/or varnish was being applied to walls on the other side of an enclosure near the lobby. One lady with health issues smelled the offending aroma and immediately went down sick. This was quickly followed, in a perfect domino effect, several other female employees going down. They were all sent home for the day and I had to figure out what happens next, "by tommorow morning please" Okayyy
Although this is the unscientific opinion part of the story, I suspect a general hysteria ensued when the first lady with a sensitivity to strong odors reacted. Not to point fingers, but not one gentleman complained. In our defense women do seem to have a heightened sensitivity to odor. No doubt that is why we know the baby filled the diaper way before the guys do. Which may be a defense mechanism for them actually honed over centuries of "who changes the baby".
Though not to leave the gents out, I once had a distress call from men working in a park putting in a new play area complete with sandbox. Upon arrival they pointed out the bag, which merrily followed the "Right to Know" laws by listing its ingredients - Silica (a known carcinogen). Sigh. Since beaches are pretty much full of it I said don't snort it ok? Using sarcasm does bite back at times. I was performing hazard training on chemicals used for swimming pool sanitation. I explained the product they were using was no more dangerous than bleach. Use the gloves and face mask provided and soak your whites in it for a cleaner wash. They gleefully pointed out where I had spilled some of the product on my jeans which now sported some interesting greenish/white spots where the "bleach" had landed. Nothing like an unplanned accident to get the point across.
Back to the odor problem. After a scramble to obtain air monitoring equipment, as of course we did not own any, because what do we need that stuff for? One should remember I came into the employee safety world during the Stone Age obviously. Oddly enough I received all the training I could eat but never the instrumentation to actually "apply" what I learned.
As I suspected, the tests were negative for dangerous levels of pretty much anything. It was just, to use the technical term, "a stinky smell". I was not believed. One lady had gone to the doctor and refused to return until she knew it was safe (in her mind), my results not withstanding. My solution was to visqueen (plastic) the offending walls and place giant fans into the suspect area to blew all the nasty smell out into the alley. Problem solved and we finished the reno over the weekend.
As I said perception is everything...More tales from the crypt to follow.
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