Smelly Office

I'm having a good day this morning. The press has been kind to us at an event last night (really a pre-event--one of those endless streams of cocktail parties that celebrate every aspect of the actual event: patrons, kick off, sneezing. That kind of thing). We were not quoted in an article on the impact of Katrina to non-profits, but our event got listed and gained extra publicity. All good things.

I was cranking right along this morning. Getting stuff done and checking stuff off my list. And then the door buzzer went off. Our office is not in, say, the high rent district. In fact, most of us would prefer not to be around here after about 7 p.m. While usually the most annoying thing we get is a lost out-of-towner trying to find their doctor, we also get some other things. The occasional stray animal. The homeless guy with his shopping cart of cans. The woman that walked up to me in the parking lot and asked me if she could have the knee-high leather boots I was wearing. Things like that.

Today, however, was a good one. A guy rang the buzzer and lowered his face to the intercom. In doing so, I was able to see his face. He couldn't see into my office, but it is very close to the front door and the when someone does that particular manuveur it usually catches my attention. It feels like someone is looking over my shoulder. I looked up and saw a very scruffy, obviously weathered man. He asked to use our restroom. We do not have a public restroom.

The girl at the front desk let him in. Apparently she is not aware that we actually got the front door buzzer/ intercom after a similar incident turned borderline violent. I guess it was more threatening than anything.

I was pissed because my office is not on the first one that would get attacked if there was a random shooting, but also right next to said bathroom. She pointed to it and he walked by peering into my office as he went in.

The other thing about my office being next to the bathroom is that I can usually hear everything. While I can't hear peeing, I can hear loud grunting, exceptionally loud plops, flushing and the sink. All of which I heard this time. The smell was so bad that it permeated the surrounding area before he even left. He also used the sink and our liquid soap to give himself a shower, as the sink was on a long time, his hair was wet when he left and there were about 100 used paper towels in the garbage.

Before you call me heartless, think of these two things:

1. How would you feel if your office smelled like poop and body odor because a homeless man came and took a whore's bath in the restroom that is about 5 feet from your desk?
2. There is a shelter literally two blocks from here that provides FREE OF CHARGE showers and cleansing materials to those in need.

So after he leaves, I'm pissed at the person who let him in. It was obvious that he was not coming here for business purposes. When one of the people who's office is two down from me complained about the smell, she started laughing incessantly until I told her that if she didn't stop, I would move her desk into the bathroom and see how she liked it.

The long of the short of it is: My office smells like feces and body odor. Still.