Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Newspaper Article of the Day

From page one of the February 14th Gulf Times:
Warning over cologne drinking

The increase in cologne consumption is causing loss of productivity to companies and a variety of ailments among labourers, according to officials

The abuse of cologne as liquor amongst low-income workers has reached alarming proportions in Qatar, construction industry officials have warned.

The increase in its consumption is causing loss of productivity to companies and a variety of ailments among labourers, they said.

"Its use has reached epidemic proportions. Almost every week we end up terminating an abuser," said a human resource official managing 2,800 labourers.

Readily available in mega-marts and neighbourhood shops, suspicious-looking cologne bottles with virtually no labelling are bought by low-income workers for using the stuff as an alcohol substitute.

"What we do now is, issue a verbal warning followed by a written one. If a worker is caught again, we suspend him for 3-5 days. As a last resort we terminate the services of the individual in an attempt to maintain discipline in the workers’ camp," the HR official said.

However, the abuse has become so widespread it does not even raise an eyebrow. Yesterday afternoon, a group of three low-income workers was spotted in a hypermarket buying three bottles of a particular cologne brand.

"We will mix it with a soft drink and consume it," said a member of the group. "It should be good for seven to eight people in our room. We use it for medicinal purposes," the worker said.

7 comments:

Warren said...

You must get stinking drunk drinking that stuff.

OBloodyHell said...

> You must get stinking drunk drinking that stuff.

Not at all -- I bet your breath never smelled so sweet...

:^P

Lame-R said...

Heard on the radio this am on the way to work that Oregon was getting ready to vote on a law barring state workers from wearing excessive amounts of cologne/perfume/aftershave/etc., or something to that affect. I thought wth? But maybe they have a similar labor problem? lol...

Lame-R said...

had to check my facts, turns out it's just the city of Portland. And it is to be sensitive to people with asthma, NOT due to consumption issues: http://www.kval.com/news/116273984.html

OBloodyHell said...

Dude, have you never noticed that the... ummmm.... "heftier" the woman, the more attractive she thinks it makes her to reek 50 feet upwind in a hurricane?

There are some people I can't get within 25 feet of without sneezing my head off.

And I dunno about you, I don't want to be in a position to have to tell some plus-sized petty bureaucrat that offending the olfactories does not improve one's vision -- or disimprove it, either.

Good for Oregon.

Lame-R said...

So true about the large ladies, and it seems as they get older it's even worse.

I double-checked, and it's just the city of Portland. While digging around trying to find it I learned that there have been some disability suits stemming from asthma issues. What I find merely annoying, somebody else may find asphyxiating.

OBloodyHell said...

> So true about the large ladies, and it seems as they get older it's even worse.

Well, older women I grant they at least have the excuse of substantially poorer olfactory senses, so they don't know they're reeking. It's one reason older people often "smell" less pleasantly than someone younger, they often don't even realize it.

> What I find merely annoying, somebody else may find asphyxiating.

I'm in between. A good whiff of certain specific perfumes -- often floral ones -- can send me into a hayfever-style sneezing fit.

It's even worse if you get stuck in a confined space like a car with one -- I've had to tell my mother not to wear perfumes around me, she seems to always manage to pick obnoxious ones, then I get trapped in a car with her for 20 mins while we go somewhere.

In my case, hence, it's less intolerance and unwillingness to "let be", it's an actual personal issue I can't avoid.

That said, I think the overall issue of anti-smoking (which I also discovered, after a few years of not being around smoke is actually also a problem for me) is way overdone in this country. Private organizations/individual should be free to set their own policies, and the idea of not allowing smoking in the open air -- especially considering possible issues with smoke drifting across walkways, etc. -- on a *property* is flat-out ludicrous. It's all so over-the-top that I suspect there is going to be a complete backlash and reversal in the next decade or two after the @#%#$^#$^ boomers finally die off, good riddance.