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-Short Attention Span Theater-
California Library Bans Stinky People
2005-03-08
A new county law aims to keep readers from reeking. Libraries in San Luis Obispo County have had their own rules banning offensive body odor since 1994, but the policy became law after the Board of Supervisors last month adopted an ordinance that lets authorities kick out malodorous guests.
Won't that descriminate against bums the homeless?
Visitors to 14 libraries and a bookmobile also could be asked to leave for fighting, eating, drinking, sleeping, playing games, and printing or viewing illegal materials on library computers.
OK, that part is enforceable.
"The point is to make the library a comfortable, safe place for everyone to use," said Moe McGee, assistant director of the San Luis Obispo City-County Library. A strict code of conduct, officials argue, is needed to ensure one patron's right to use a public library doesn't infringe on the rights of another. Yet the law can raise tough questions for librarians, said Irene Macias, Santa Barbara's library services manager. "What is bad odor?" Macias asked. "A woman who wears a strong perfume? A person who had a garlicky meal?"
Posted by:Desert Blondie

#18  DB - The site is rather bizarre, lol! If I didn't know better, I'd say there is a sexual thingy going on there - complete with centerfold. *shiver*
Posted by: .com   2005-03-08 9:16:05 PM  

#17  Worse than garlic, worse than durian its carbon diselenide. Or even tellurium breath.
Posted by: The Chemist   2005-03-08 4:50:35 PM  

#16  Well, then, phil_b, found a site for you, then.

Posted by: Desert Blondie   2005-03-08 4:03:56 PM  

#15  I like the smell of durian. The first time I tried it, I thought it was the most disgusting thing I have ever tried to eat. The second time I tried it, I started to see what all the fuss was about (Asians love durian). Thats when I realized it was additive.
Posted by: phil_b   2005-03-08 3:22:31 PM  

#14  The unibomber was identified by his smell in libraries

ummm wasn't it his manifesto that tipped his brother to report him?
Posted by: Frank G   2005-03-08 3:07:25 PM  

#13  Gilroy CA, where no one can use the library during certain times of the year.
Posted by: BigEd   2005-03-08 2:58:28 PM  

#12  ...A person who had a garlicky meal?
Posted by: BigEd   2005-03-08 2:48:10 PM  

#11  Does anyone remember?

The unibomber was identified by his smell in libraries.
Posted by: BigEd   2005-03-08 2:45:26 PM  

#10  One day a sergeant was telling me of his post WWII experiences administering the Marshall Plan in China. After a time, his Chinese driver, deciding to speak frankly, said, "Sarge you're pretty good 'Joe', but you drink cow's milk and it makes you stink like shit." Oh well, one person's rose is an other man's corpse flower (Amorphophallus titanum).
Posted by: GK   2005-03-08 12:56:01 PM  

#9  "Won't that descriminate against bums the homeless?"

That was kinda the idea. I think this is mostly about the San Luis Obispo city library, which is in the center of town across from city hall and the county gov't center. The "homeless" have been an "issue" there for some time. It's a little better now, since they moved the Day Center (i.e.: soup kitchen) out of the historic San Luis Obispo Mission (a huge tourist attraction)(the Mission, not the soup kitchen).

"What is bad odor?" Macias asked. "A woman who wears a strong perfume? A person who had a garlicky meal?"

No Irene, it's some lice-infested character with a literal c**p-load in his drawers.
Posted by: Dr August Balls of SLO   2005-03-08 12:38:38 PM  

#8  Entreprenuial types will set up kiosks in the library parking lots selling various sorts of deodorant, in stick, roll-on, and gel...
Posted by: BigEd   2005-03-08 11:53:54 AM  

#7  .com, my little brother said the same thing when he went to Malaysia. One of his drivers had one in the trunk of the car....he thought something died horribly in there before he found out what it was.

Makes you wonder just how hungry the first poor bastard who ate that crap was when he bit into it.

I bet you'll love this site, then, .com.
Posted by: Desert Blondie   2005-03-08 11:24:42 AM  

#6  What does it take to drive every other living creature out of the building?

A skunk.
Posted by: Steve from Relto   2005-03-08 9:56:41 AM  

#5  I may be alone on this, but I think that's a good rule. The homeless do hang out in libraries but, man, they STINK. Their smell can clear an entire area. And you don't want somebody with that strong of a pee stench sitting in the upholstered chairs.

It seems ok to me to demand that they clean up to an acceptable degree before they go in.
Posted by: 2b   2005-03-08 9:53:49 AM  

#4  Hey - I lived in Thailand for almost a year (1 year ago, in fact) and visited more than a dozen times before that - I know durian. Holy shit! You know if anyone in the entire hotel has breached the No Durian! rule! They have cards with a picture and the rule in 4 or 5 languages all over the hotels, lol! Evil shit!
Posted by: .com   2005-03-08 9:39:49 AM  

#3  Nah, .com, try durian.
Posted by: Desert Blondie   2005-03-08 9:36:00 AM  

#2  Kimchi? Sorry - just kidding... ;-)
Posted by: .com   2005-03-08 9:17:56 AM  

#1  "What is bad odor?"

I'll take Odors for $100, Alex.

What does it take to drive every other living creature out of the building?
Posted by: Thrainter Cliling3962   2005-03-08 9:15:31 AM  

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