Letters to the Editor
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Trouble in the Ol' Factory
I believe that no one in the workplace should be subjected to an environment that makes it all but impossible to do one's job. There are reasons that most environments are smoke-free. Likewise, many people are sensitive to fragrances, and have bad reactions to them, so some places might request that employees don't use, or use sparingly, personal fragrances.
Although this is a "sensitive" area, it's no less noxious than smoking or excessive fragrance (and, to my mind, adding artificial fragrance to mask the natural gas is not an acceptable remedy).
Why should any person hired to do an office job endeavor to do their best in an atmosphere that might want to make them vomit? It's not unkind to a person to bring up this issue. However, whether it's stated out of concern for their health or their social standing, I don't think anyone should pretend that it's not something that they simply cannot tolerate. If the "offender" (no matter how nice a person) doesn't "get" the message, then it is something to be taken up with a supervisor or HR. (I posted a similar reply to a previous letter, and someone said something along the line of "are you crazy?" regarding reporting it. I'm sorry, but if an atmosphere is detrimental to doing the job that one is paid to do, then one certainly should be adult enough to deal with it forthrightly.)
So--I think it should be handled directly. It's a health matter for the people affected by it. No one wants to do office work in a bathroom. With all due consideration to the expeller of gas, the overall environment should be of primary concern.
Bring up this issue directly or with managerial/HR help. You really shouldn't have to work in a place that makes you sick to your stomach and places undue stress on your well-being.