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[NOT RACISM] Working with Pakistani that stinks

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blueskull:
THIS IS NOT RACISM! READ BELOW! I WOULDN'T HAVE ASKED IF I HAD A BETTER OPTION.

So, we have a new PhD student from Pakistan, and this guy stinks. Not the worst I've seen, but I certainly don't want to be in the same office with him.

Normally I would give him time to discover deodorant, or wait for someone else to point him to the right direction, but here in China, most people don't have body odor, and most have no idea what a deodorant is.

And giving him time certainly is not an option -- he has been in China for 3 years for a master's degree, and has yet to realize his curry smell is not that welcomed as he is at his hometown.

FYI, this is not a very hygienic guy either to say at least. His yellow backpack is sweat stained to be practically beige, and his computer is laced with a layer of thick oil and skin sheds -- I should be glad there is no dandruff.

So, what are my options to politely let him know that I don't like how he smells, and he needs to take actions? Since he will be here for the next 3 years, I hate to be that jerk that sounds racist.

BTW, this is the exact reason why I didn't use my office back when I was in the US -- the other two postdocs in the office are Indian and Pakistani, and I smell like curry after a day at work.

tooki:
Hah! When I first moved to Switzerland at age 12, the first year of school here was in the special "integration" class (in which the kids are given very, very individualized work). For a kid like me (from USA), it really served mostly to learn German. But there were some Pakistani siblings in my class, and not only did they have to learn the language and (especially with the girl, who'd never been to school before at all) catch up academically, but they also had to be taught European customs, and in their case that expressly included teaching them that in this culture, people bathe frequently and find BO objectionable.

So how to deal with it? Pull him aside and explain in a non-accusatory way that "i'm sure you didn't realize this, but your body odor is objectionable in this culture, and may hold you back in your career. The customs here and in much of the world are very different from back in Pakistan, and essentially demand daily showering as well as frequent clothing laundering, such that there is no perceptible smell. I'd be happy to give you some pointers." Chances are he doesn't even realize it causes people offense, and will be mortified to discover it, hence needing to do it with nobody around, and with the tone of concern, rather than anger. See e.g. https://www.peoplehr.com/blog/2015/08/21/office-problems-how-to-tell-a-colleague-they-smell/

Howardlong:
I don’t have an answer I’m afraid, but some years ago I did spend some months sitting opposite an Indian guy who snorted every minute or so, and I just couldn’t concentrate. I had to get up and leave several times a day to calm my frustration. Nowadays I’d put on the Bose noise cancelling earbuds. Thankfully he didn’t make it through probation.

I had another Indian guy working for me once who always brought in smelly, often vomit inducing, food from home for both breakfast and lunch, and ate it at his desk next to mine. I just got up and left when he was eating.

What I should’ve done was to have a word with HR and have an edict that all hot food should be eaten in the canteen, not at desks/benches, but I didn’t really get on with the HR people, and I was a contractor anyway. Maybe you could have a word with HR for the food thing? It’s about time we had a story about HR doing something useful. After all, one could spin a yarn about the incompatibility of hot food and equipment? Maybe even personal safety, such as contaminating mixing food with flux etc?

I don’t know how to deal with an all round 24/7 smelly person, other than to have a word with HR, but I feel your pain and do have a story for you.

About twenty odd years ago, a prestigious company I was working for outsourced their IT support to an Indian company, with employees shipped in direct from India on to site. Unfortunately there were some cultural incompatibilties, such as washing their feet in the sinks in the executive washroom, the snorting thing, and an interesting way to sit on a Western toilet which wasn’t at all hygienic. They lasted about three months before it was in sourced again, the upper echelons discovering that maybe it hadn’t been the best idea.

pidcon:
I would invite him and a few of your friends to dinner or lunch at an Indian/Pakistani restaurant. The more smoky and crowded, the better. After the meal, while walking together to go home or for some other reason, make a remark about your own clothes and how it stinks, then ask your colleague how he is aware of it and how he deals with it. If he responds, then you can safely broach the subject of washing, hygiene, etc. It may not be the solution, but that's my take on it. A bit of diplomacy and tact is essential, since your colleague will be in China for several years.

ebclr:
Does he spit on the floor? He shits on the street, this is pretty common on chinese culture, With time he can learn be patient

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