At a recent Aikido seminar I had the opportunity to practice with Aikidoers from other clubs around London. As I looked around for a someone to practice with one person caught my eye. He had a long, greasy pony tail that reached his wast. He had so much dandruff it looked like someone had emptied a salt shaker on to his head. His skin was pasty and greasy. I was fascinated and repulsed this person’s laissez-faire attitude to personal hygiene. I realised too late that my gaze could be misinterpreted as an invitation to practice together. He walked towards me and extended his hand. Each of his fingertips was wrapped with a piece of dirty masking tape. As he grabbed my wrist (the Aikdo attack we were practicing) all I could think about was if he had changed the masking tape since his last bathroom visit.
It struck me that failing to meet a basic level of personal presentation is the worst possible first impression you could make; to the extent that people will do there best to avoid you and write blog posts about how disgusting you are.
Most people can overlook differences of opinion, garish fashion sense or non-contagious diseases. But there are some things that make people want to get as far away from you as possible. Imagine how damaging bad breath or body odor would be in an intimate workshop environment. Imagine how off putting dirty clothing or greasy hair would be when delivering a speech in front of an audience.
It is very rare that I find myself interacting with someone in denial about their repulsiveness. Obviously all readers of this blog are shining example of personal hygiene, fashion sense and grooming. But you do get the odd person and there is no polite way of telling them they are disgusting. This blog post is a public service announcement; a quick reminder not to be absolutely disgusting, especially if you want to touch me.
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On being absolutely disgusting
At a recent Aikido seminar I had the opportunity to practice with Aikidoers from other clubs around London. As I looked around for a someone to practice with one person caught my eye. He had a long, greasy pony tail that reached his wast. He had so much dandruff it looked like someone had emptied a salt shaker on to his head. His skin was pasty and greasy. I was fascinated and repulsed this person’s laissez-faire attitude to personal hygiene. I realised too late that my gaze could be misinterpreted as an invitation to practice together. He walked towards me and extended his hand. Each of his fingertips was wrapped with a piece of dirty masking tape. As he grabbed my wrist (the Aikdo attack we were practicing) all I could think about was if he had changed the masking tape since his last bathroom visit.
It struck me that failing to meet a basic level of personal presentation is the worst possible first impression you could make; to the extent that people will do there best to avoid you and write blog posts about how disgusting you are.
Most people can overlook differences of opinion, garish fashion sense or non-contagious diseases. But there are some things that make people want to get as far away from you as possible. Imagine how damaging bad breath or body odor would be in an intimate workshop environment. Imagine how off putting dirty clothing or greasy hair would be when delivering a speech in front of an audience.
It is very rare that I find myself interacting with someone in denial about their repulsiveness. Obviously all readers of this blog are shining example of personal hygiene, fashion sense and grooming. But you do get the odd person and there is no polite way of telling them they are disgusting. This blog post is a public service announcement; a quick reminder not to be absolutely disgusting, especially if you want to touch me.
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