Ah, stinkies... bane of my existence, and not just in airplanes, but in shopping malls, restaurants, fast fooderies, public transportation... pretty much anywhere I have to interact with other people. I avoid them whenever possible, though I am always as polite and unobtrusive as possible. I stand farther away, or leave and come back later, or whatever I have to do to maintain separation without being impolite or embarrassing about it.
My worst experience in this arena was at Walt Disney World several years ago. I was in a line behind a woman on a scooter. She was massively overweight, and since she was on a scooter I assumed that she had a medical condition that made it difficult or impossible for her to stand and walk on her own.
But whatever her medical issue was, it apparently prevented her from bating regularly, because the three words that best describer were as follows and I quote: Stink. Stank. Stunk.
I wound up leaving about 10' (3m) of empty space between me and her. I kept waiting for the people behind me to ask me to move up, but they never did, so I think they got a whiff of the woman as well and understood my issue.
I'm just grateful she was in front of me, not behind me. Had I been within 3' (1m) of her, I would have had to leave the line and return later or it would have made me ill. No exaggeration, it really would have made me retch. I was on the verge until I let her go ahead without moving up myself.
I felt sorry for her; the issue didn't appear to be one strictly of choice. On the other hand, I also couldn't bear to be anywhere within 10' of her without gagging and potentially giving my dinner an unwelcome curtain call.
Originally Posted by
redreeper
^^
I wish everybody would.... *sigh*....
I not only shower, I wash with Hibiclens before and after my flight. I bring some in a little 3oz bottle, I wash out the hotel tub with it too. I highly recommend it. I also travel with what I consider the equivalent of a towel for Hitchhikers Guide fans... one of these:
http://www.fullmoonloom.com/
The fabric is light enough so you can breathe through it, so when my nose is assaulted by a fellow pax I use it as a combination pillow and smell guard. It works - I swear. One time I was sitting next to a Rabbi and there was a seat between us; he pulled out every smelly food you could imagine and plopped it right down there on the seat, I was gagging. So I pulled out my tapestry (which folds down to about the size of a pillow case, btw) and made a pillow/smell guard and I was happy as a clam at high-tide. Even the garlic cloves didn't get through. I never fly without it. Once I used it as a cover for my seat which had many frightening stains.
reep - the link you posted goes to Full Moon's home page. Would you mind naming the specific product of theirs that you find so useful? Thanks.