Bill to bar bad smelling people from Honolulu buses stalls

If they did this in NYC the transit system would go broke.

Lots of smelly passengers?

can you imagine trying to decide who is stinky? I suspect there are so many different tolerances to different types of odors that you'd never be able to get agreement.

I know what I'd ban - and it isn't necessarily the b.o. stinky type. I'd go after the cheap manly cologne-wearers - they give me headaches.

As well as the drown-yourself-in-a-bottle-of-perfume types!

that's a whole other hideousness - though the science tells us that guys don't (generally) have as sensitive noses, so they don't notice their joyful odor until it's too late for the women around them

Without subsidies, it would already be broke.

It's worth every penny of my tax share. Saved me from having a car for over 15 years.

Yes, ehBeth, nothing the smell of AquaVelva in the morning.

I drove a city bus for four years. There are certain smells I can't take, like watermelon gum - instant headache. Regardless, I only kicked people off once for being stinky.
It was a holiday, warm and people were cranky because service was reduced. So, after I left downtown, the bus was packed solid, I couldn't pick any more people so it was drop off service only.
The last two people I picked up were two middle aged homeless guys. They stunk. Old booze, stale smoke and garlic pills poured off of them. They were standing next to me, or sloppily bouncing off other patrons and slamming into me. Then they started to fart. The trumpets peels were soon followed by the most ghastly stench. I once smelled the rotting carcass of a dead beaver on the side of the road...THIS WAS WORSE, and they thought it was funny.
I had to stop the bus in the middle of the road, get out of my seat and throw up, in front of 80 odd people. I couldn't stop gagging, my eyes watered to the point I couldn't see. I ordered them off the bus, mid hurl and got a standing ovation from the other riders when I was finally able to drive again.
Trust me, there are times when for the safety of all concerned, these rules are needed.

Wow, that sounds bad! You have my sympathies!

I hope you have a better job now.

As I understand it, this was one of the main reasons why the proposal was defeated in Honolulu. There could be no agreement on the language, since what is and is not an offensive odor are matters of individual sensitivity.

On the contrary, I think the egregious cases are pretty easy. Once I was on an "L" train when a particularly odiferous gentleman managed to clear out pretty much an entire train car through the sheer power of his stench. At each stop, passengers would run out of the car and hop into the adjoining car. The refugees packed that car, trading anecdotes and generally enjoying a sort of camaraderie of the trenches, while the aromatic gent had an entire car all to himself. Another time, a fragrant denizen of the streets, smelling of sweat, alcohol, ****, and despair, got on at one end of the train car. It was actually possible to gauge the progress of his personal stank as it wafted through the car, with passengers at each successive row of seats getting up and retreating to the other end of the car or out the doors. In such cases as these, I think a vote among the non-offending passengers regarding the offensiveness of the smells would be unanimous.

I spent the last year travelling, so I'm looking at the moment. I won't be going back to public transit. EVER. It was a good career once I got on the promotional track but never, never ever again.
I often tell people that I like people but I hate the public.

You think buses filled with somewhat smelly folk are bad? You should try working in a classroom full of adolescent boys, straight after PE! Now that's what I call smelly! Momma mia! Someone should do something!

Smelling is so different across individuals and even across gender and culture.

e.g.

Apparently, quite a few men cannot smell that awful tomcat deposit.

Lots of rural aboriginal people appear to completely eschew deodorant.......I find this overwhelming in terms of smell, I suspect they are either unaware, or find it pleasant. After all, we spent millenia smelling of body substances.

I predict that if this law is enacted there will be a Rosa Parks type of smelly person who will refuse to give up his/her seat. This will start the "Equal Rights for Smelly People" act of 2009! Smelly people will demand equal rights!!!