Olfactory Advice

One of the best pieces of advice I ever received from a professor when I was in college was totally unexpected.  When we were first year and learning about doing intakes, she cautioned us to be prepared for meeting people who smelled bad.

In our line of work we are often meeting people who have poor hygiene (for various reasons) or who are living in spaces that are not clean, and therefore smelling a lot less than  fresh.

It was a quick off-handed comment for the professor to make, but something I totally had not considered up until then.  I think it prepared me to handle some stinky situations with more grace than I may have otherwise, and certainly reminded me not to pass judgement on someone for their olfactory state.

Eight years later, if I had a dollar for every time I've written "malodour" in a note...

Thursday Morning Interrupted

I start most of my Thursdays in the same way.  I have a standing appointment with a long time client at 9:00.  Since my work day actually starts at 8:30, I usually pull up into a local parking lot, and drink tea from my thermos while I remotely check my voicemail and read emails on my blackberry.  At about 5 to 9 I drive on over to the client's building and we usually meet for the full hour.  This particular client likes to share, and always has lots to talk about.

The other day I followed said routine.  At about 5 to 9 I realized that I kinda needed to pee, but didn't have time to get to the McDonalds down the street (my preferred pit-stop location.  I won't eat there, but their bathrooms sure are nice and clean!) so not thinking much of it I went on to my meeting. 

As my client is launching into his weekly update, all I can think about is my need for the loo.  It's getting worse by the minute.  I've never used the toilet in a client's home (just my personal philosophy) and I'm not about to start in this particular one.  My client is extremely nice, but not the best housekeeper.  And let's just say that over the years this client has related many a charming tale about various bathroom "misses" (I'll leave that to the imagination).  Only 20 minutes into our appointment as I'm trying desperately not to wriggle and fidget, I had to make some really lame excuse - I'm sorry I have to cut this short today, I've over booked myself - and got out of there! 

Waiting for the elevator was agony.  As I got to the ground and dashed for my car, I quickly tried to come up with my best plan considering urgency/need to avoid any embarrassment.  In full on wiggle mode in the car, I drove down the street to my mother's house, as it's mercifully nearby.  I totally made it, and basked in the glory of this success for a few minutes before carrying on with my day.

This is remarkable only because how is this the first time ever this has happened?  I do the same bloody thing every week?!?  I guess I should be grateful, and just hope it never happens again.

Social Work Summer Look Book

Summer provides a particular set of challenges for the housing worker dress code. As always, we must look professional enough for the office, but causal enough meet comfortably with clients in their homes.

Temperatures have been in the 30’s, and even hitting 40 with the humidity so we must try to stay cool. Getting in and out of the car is inevitably hot and sticky. Most clients do not have A/C at home. The office, on the other hand, as well as the many coffee shops, libraries and other public spaces we frequent are chilled to what I’m sure is minus 5 degrees, so layers are important. I’m toting cardigans with me in the middle of a July heat-wave.

We don’t get paid enough to maintain a particularly generous wardrobe which means I rotate the same 2 pairs of shorts and one skirt with great frequency. They are the only things that will allow me some relief from heat, while also allowing me to sit comfortably in some of the less than sparkling clean apartments and rooming houses I visit regularly.

And then there are the shoes.

I read with jealously when SocialJerk disparaged the social worker stereotype of wearing Birkenstocks, because frankly, I’d take any type of sandal right about now no matter how “social worky” they may make me look. But that’s a big no-no. Along with outlawing high heels (makes sense when we are entering all types of settings with a wide variety of health and safety disasters problems concerns) my agency has decided that a fully enclosed heel and closed toe are the only way to go. So the choices are sneakers and socks (which look AWESOME with my shorts and scrawny legs) or some type of flat dress shoes. Either of which leads to sweaty and stinky.

And the cherry on top of this sweaty, sweater-toting, scrawny legged mess? There are some clients who do keep a very neat and tidy home and want me to take my shoes off when I come inside. I’m not allowed to do this, and it’s too bulky to bring along “indoor shoes” so I end up popping on these babies:

Who ever said social work isn’t sexy, hmm?

Potty Break

I was at our local disability support office with a client the other day. It’s a nice new building, so I decided to take the opportunity to use a clean and non-scary washroom. I walked in and nearly burst out laughing (which was bad, since I really had to pee) when I saw this sign next to the toilet:

I then turned around and saw this one:

Text: AS A COURTESY TO THE NEXT USER PLEASE OBSERVE THE FOLLOWING: > Do not step on the toilet bowl > Please FLUSH the toilet after use > Keep the whole toilet area clean as you leave. Tissue is cheap. > Please wash your hands after you have finished.

One sign must not have been enough to dissuade these incorrigible washroom destroyers. I guess some people just have no sense of public toilet etiquette.

Get that "deep cleaning tingle!"

This was something I had never seen before.

I showed up the other day to see a client for a home visit and to drop off his medications which I pick up for him once a month. He’s an older guy with schizophrenia, who is also extremely obese. For the past year we’ve been working a lot on housekeeping and personal hygiene, both of which he has trouble looking after and issues which could put his housing at risk (there have been complaints to the building manager several times because of severe malodour).

We’ve had some great success of late. He has budgeted and scheduled for a cleaner to come once every two weeks and clean his apartment. He also got some help to install an air conditioning unit, which has really improved a space that I once had to leave in order to not pass out from the heat and smells.

So, back to the original point of this story – I show up the other day and he’s got blood all over his legs, from the knees down. I asked him what happened, and he says casually that his legs were itchy.

What?!?

I needed some more explanation.

Apparently, he had soaked his feet for upwards of two hours in a chemical household cleaning solution in an effort to get them clean. He said that he stopped, and realized this was maybe not the best idea when his feet and legs started ITCHING and BURNING. “The cleaning lady wears gloves when she uses that stuff” he knowingly informed me.

O. M. G.

He seemed very non plussed by the whole thing, but then, that’s how he is with most every thing. I pleaded with him to wash his legs with some cool, clean water once I left, and asked him to please call his doctor or get some medical attention if the itching or burning came back.

Maybe I should have offered to get him a proper pedicure kit for next time. Although it might be a little sore to use a pumice stone for while yet...