The Honolulu City Council is considering a ban on riders if their body odor offends someone. Under the law, police could cite riders if their body odor annoyed others and a convicted offender could face up to $500 in fines or six months in prison. What an amazing load of smelly poop.
So here is some poor guy who just got off of work. Lets say he worked eight hours on a loading dock. So now, along with trying to raise a family, concerns about the economy, and all of the other challenges that face the average person, he has to worry about possibly “offending” someone’s sensitive nose and risk a $500 fine or even jail. Jail! For not smelling properly!!
Make note of the idiots who proposed this: Councilman Rod Tam and Councilman Nestor Garcia.
Now I know that someone is going to say that this is simply aimed at those homeless people who don’t bathe for days, you know, “those people.” Well, even if I did accept that it was just aimed at, you know, “those people”, I wonder how long it would take for Mr. I. M. Superior to decide that our loading dock worker is “offensive”. My guess, not long at all.
But let’s get back to the homeless guy. I have been on buses and trains with that homeless guy. Yes, he does reek. But should that keep him from being able to ride on a bus? He probably has more than a few strikes against him. For whatever reason he is homeless, and yes, he smells. So we add to his problems by banning him from public transportation.
And here we come to another problem. For many years I rode the “T” in Boston, to and from work. Without fail there was usually more than a couple people on my bus or train who, like me (and unlike the homeless guy), woke up that morning and took a shower. Unlike me however they then splashed on way too much cologne, after shave, perfume, and in some cases, all of the above. And, though freshly showered and sporting some nice clothes, they reeked. Not like the homeless guy but just as offensive.
So what of these people? Do we make categories of smells? Sweaty work guy smell: 6 months in jail. Smell that comes from a bottle: Have a nice day!
Like many things in life there are no easy answers. Sadly, there are some people (like Councilors Tam and Garcia) who insist that there are and when they have the power to force their easy answers on others they rarely fail to act. Usually they act stupidly. For them, homelessness is not seen as a complex problem. They view it in simplistic terms. The outcome of their simplistic views is to ban people from what is otherwise “public” transportation. I do not expect the Honolulu City Council to solve the problem of homelessness. Nor the “problem” of workers who smell either from a long day of physical labor or from splashing on too much Old Spice. What I do expect, sitting here in Maine 5112 miles from Honolulu, is some clear thinking, some compassion, and some common sense.
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