[Musings of a Game Store Owner] Getting Funky

Let's drop some Funke Funke Wisdom

This week's topic is pretty potent but fairly universal - Funk

It's something we have all experienced at one time or another; that person that really needs a bath.

Gamers as a rule tend to be some of the worst offenders in the hygiene category, with quite a number of us having something of a reputation for being far less than pleasant to the nose. We've all heard about these offenders. You know the one, the guy that lives in his mom's basement and hasn't seen a shower in weeks, if not longer. 

Why this is true is beyond me. The socially awkward thing only gets you so far. There are only so many excuses for being uneducated about the niceties of being out and about in public. If I could explain it, I'd be rich. It's not like it hasn't been brought up time and time again. 

We've addressed it publicly, but maybe we need to say it more plainly: 

Dudes, please shower. Regularly. Like, with soap and water.

You're not the Wicked Witch, and you won't melt. You might even make some friends. 

At the game store, we have guys that are "not so fresh", as you might say. We do try to make the store a nice place to visit for everyone, so we have automated air fresheners located on the walls, which spray nice smelling stuff on a regular basis. (Anti-Game Store Dude Funk Technology Machines in action!) 

Sometimes, though, there's a patron for whom even the regulated spayers can't help. It happened pretty recently that a fellow came into our store that was mighty foul. I mean, really, truly, terribly foul. Not only did the guy reek, but the smell didn't leave when he did. The stink was powerful mighty and STAYED.

TheDude was astounded at the effect this patron had on the store, and knew he had to take action. He grabbed the individual cans of Febreeze and walked through the store, with trails of clean smelling stuff following behind him. He posted about it on Facebook, and one of our friends suggested we cover the fellow with scented pine trees and tell everyone we're decorating early for Christmas. That was pretty amusing. 

But when it's a regular, you have to tread a little more lightly. Having a conversation with a regular source of income, trying to convey that they might need a touch more deodorant is a very, VERY tough thing. Being responsible for considering all feelings involved is treacherous, and any FLGS owner worth their salt is going to approach it with great trepidation. 

However, peers are able to break those conversations down in ways that are both honest and hilarious. More than a few times, there have been some "emissions" coming from a person (or the restroom), and the  commentary from the "Peanut Gallery" has been pretty frank, and it's generally taken well. Somehow, the fact that you don't smell so nice seems to be easier to take from friends than from folks in authority. I've seen the regulars shame the scent right off some of our toughest cases- so sometimes, peer pressure is a good thing. 

  

I've also seen the very powerful effect that women can have on the overall cleanliness level. It doesn't hurt our store at all that we have a pretty high level of female customers, as well as a good number of mothers. I think our crowd has sourced that if a mother wrinkles her nose in a specific direction, it's time to step up in the getting clean department.

The overall level of "smell good" has gone up dramatically since January, when TheDude implemented his self-improvement and accountability plan. I'll have to admit, as his wife, that more than a few times, TheDude was the worst offender of the "air pollution" variety in the store. Once he decided to get his act together, and put forth an effort to be neat, clean, presentable and well dressed EVERY DAY, our customers responded in a very positive way. We experienced a gradual but noticeable difference in our customers' cleanliness level that pretty much directly correlated to TheDude's.

He's a good influence!

We feel we've dealt with the problem of the odoriferous patron as well as we can- we have automatic spayers as well as handheld devices. We utilize our customer base in positive ways to help keep the environment as pleasant as possible, and we have a dual pronged approach of direct commentary and tact according to need and situation. We try to consider everyone's feelings. We try to use humor whenever possible, and if we have to, we break out the Febreeze.

Next week, I'm going to address some questions that MadPersian brought up in the comments a while ago. I managed to miss them the first time around, so I want to take a second to get to them. I welcome questions from the rest of you as well- just drop me a line or leave a comment here. See you then!