The smell of old sweat or unwashed clothes is something that I find hard to be around. I go to the gym a lot and there are a few people there who seem to not change their clothes after a workout and just reuse them the next session.
That sour, cloying smell just makes me feel that they are rubbing their rotting, unwashed skin all over the machines so I have to give them an extra thorough clean before using, and if they are nearby then I have to walk away.
Then there are some that are clearly ineffective at wiping after going to the bathroom so the smell of poo around them is unbearable and I have to go to another area of the gym altogether.
I appreciate that some people may have medical issues that cause this but the impact on me is such that I have to remove myself from their vicinity.
As for the smell of chips, BBQ etc - I love it. Where I live there are often small stalls cooking skewers of meat in the evenings and they taste awesome and the vendors know that wafting the smell around drums up custom.
When I did my barbering course I was told one of the best tools in your kit was a bottle of strong perfume so as you could smell something you do like, some of our clients really really stank.
For the issues of peoples smells there is nothing to do - even wearing a mask is ineffective as a good workout will cause it to get soaked with moisture from heavy breathing and loose its usefulness.
Avoidance is the only way around this that I can see. If it is in a less breathing intensive environment then I switch to breathe through my mouth is possible.
The nature of society now means that this hygiene could be a personal choice - maybe they are against using chemicals or believe they are somehow self cleaning after a while. These are valid choices for the individual but selfish in the impact that they have on others.
If find it easy to identify when someone has used the same clothes for more than a day just from the smell as the smell of the skin oils is pronounced after just one day, and after 2 days it becomes unpleasant enough that I tend to avoid them.
How people can go all week without a shower / bath I cannot understand - to me they are fetid by this time with all that build up of oils and sweat on the skin that isn't getting washed., plus the unwashed clothes which are permeated by this stench.
