Occupy DC Smelled Bad
OK, so I finally got the opportunity to visit Occupy DC. I am drawn to protests like my kids are drawn to new episodes of Yo Gabba Gabba! -- strongly. So a friend and I headed down there and visited the little tent city and talked to the occupiers. We chose perhaps the worst time to visit -- pretty late at night -- so most of the people who were out and about were either pretty tired or pretty inebriated.
There were some charming scenes, such as the guy trying to sweet talk the cute girl by talking politics. Some signs disturbed me (e.g. "Please! Do not spit in the water fountain!") while others practically asked to be liberated into my home (e.g. "We could always use more help with the dishes!").
Unfortunately, the conversations I hoped for didn't materialize. I fully acknowledge that this was my logistical error in choosing a late and chilly night to visit.
But when I read this story ("Man found dead in Occupy New Orleans encampment") about a man dead for two days being discovered in the Occupy zone, I wondered whether DC didn't have a similar problem. I'm not saying the encampment smelled of death, exactly, but it really did smell bad.
My husband would be the first to tell you that my nose should be examined by science for its ability to detect hints of vanilla a mile away, so perhaps I'm overly sensitive.
But both my companion and I were somewhat overcome by the stench. Hints of urine, to be sure, but there was something else that was just not quite right. This strikes me as a huge marketing problem. Convincing people to camp out is one thing, convincing people to camp out in a smelly enclave? Much more difficult.
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Comments:
Re: Occupy DC Smelled Bad
Hmm, my college campus starts "Occupy USF" in an hour... Can't wait to see all of the unwashed greasy haired masses congregating outside of my classroom building!
Apr '11
Re: Occupy DC Smelled Bad
Sadly, I think the stench will only serve to convince them they're doing the right thing. Look what they have to give up to be there! Besides, you're just suffering from bourgeois smellist prejudices.
Oct '10
Re: Occupy DC Smelled Bad
The fact that most of these Occupy protests are eventually turning into a William Golding novel is one of the biggest thing that undermines any sort of message these folks are trying to get out.
Re: Occupy DC Smelled Bad
OK, now you just sound like my husband.
Aug '10
Re: Occupy DC Smelled Bad
Labeling an odor "bad" is merely a patriarchal bourgeois social construct.
Aug '10
Re: Occupy DC Smelled Bad
Mollie Hemingway, Ed.
My husband would be the first to tell you that my nose should be examined by science for its ability to detect hints of vanilla a mile away, so perhaps I'm overly sensitive.
Molly, have you considered a career as a "nose"? I've heard it can be lucrative.
(Women do, in general, have better senses of smell than men, BTW.)
Aug '10
Re: Occupy DC Smelled Bad
I love that the banner ads I get in this thread are for an expensive robo-litterbox that supposedly cuts down on the smell of cat poop:
Feb '11
Re: Occupy DC Smelled Bad
Midget Faded Rattlesnake
.....
(Women do, in general, have better senses of smell than men, BTW.) · Nov 9 at 10:12am
On balance, yet another advantage to being a man.
Apr '11
Re: Occupy DC Smelled Bad
Mollie Hemingway, Ed.
OK, now you just sound like my husband. · Nov 9 at 8:55am
Funny, you sound like MY husband! His nose is a lot like yours. I swear he can walk into the house, take one sniff, and tell how many poopy diapers I've changed that day, even if I've taken them outside. I'd better keep him away from any Occupy demonstrations; bad smells drive him bonkers.
Feb '11
Re: Occupy DC Smelled Bad
Ummm... I am wondering how familiar you might be with the smell of unsmoked ganja? Weed can be potent just lying about, and folks who marinate in it certainly have a distinctive skunky odor? Could that explain some of the piquancy?
Re: Occupy DC Smelled Bad
Midget Faded Rattlesnake
Mollie Hemingway, Ed.
My husband would be the first to tell you that my nose should be examined by science for its ability to detect hints of vanilla a mile away, so perhaps I'm overly sensitive.
Molly, have you considered a career as a "nose"? I've heard it can be lucrative.
(Women do, in general, have better senses of smell than men, BTW.) · Nov 9 at 10:12am
That would be awesome except that my sensitivity to smell corresponds to easy discomfort by it. But I might have to consider ...
Re: Occupy DC Smelled Bad
The best way I can answer is that I grew up in Colorado and didn't even realize marijuana was illegal until I was 15.
Aug '10
Re: Occupy DC Smelled Bad
Mollie Hemingway, Ed.
The best way I can answer is that I grew up in Colorado and didn't even realize marijuana was illegal until I was 15. · Nov 9 at 11:33am
It's illegal in Colorado, whoa...?
in other news, patchouli outbreak dampens protesters stink about bankers
Edited on November 9, 2011 at 9:58pmJan '11
Re: Occupy DC Smelled Bad
Publius - which William Golding novel - Lord of the Fleas? :)
Nov '10
Re: Occupy DC Smelled Bad
I visited Occupy DC a couple of times and am dismayed at the incredible lack in understanding (or even awareness) of history, civics and economics. The conversations are mostly sloganeering and can't get beneath the blunt statement. No depth and no concern about that. They're right and that's enough.
I liked how the crunchy granola crowd set their tents well away from the hippie crowd. I blamed it on the smell...as well as our DC antipathy toward the homeless.
My favorite conversation was about the evil of the "imperial presidency" of George Bush and the need for Obama to forget congress and just "do what's right"...in a single, although long and tortured, sentence.