Would you tell a co-worker that they....

[Haylo]

Have really really I mean deadly bad breath? When I say this girl's breath stinks, I mean it. It's so bad that it leaves a cloud of funk behind on the bad days. On the good days it just singes your nose hair. She's a fairly new co-worker, so i'm not that close to her. What should I do?

[Lionking]

Take her aside and tell it to her straight up.

[Harrison]

I doubt she's unaware if it's that ridiculous. That's a serious health issue at that point lol

[Haylo]

I don't know Harri, she makes comments like "Oh I just had tuna fish, I need some gum" as if that's the only reason her breath stinks. She has braces so maybe she thinks it's a by product of that?

[brinstar]

"accidentally" cc her an email about how the new girl's breath smells like she eats corpses for breakfast

[Gypsiyee]

I'd be gentle at first I think, by always having gum or mints with me and offering her a piece as I take one every time I see her.. and if she doesn't get the hint then, take her aside and tell her. I mean you have to remember, telling her yourself will be embarrassing for her, but not nearly as much as it will be for her to continue talking to people who cringe every time she does.

It definitely might be a product of the braces - they hold so much goop in them if you don't clean them properly. one of my best friends had em when we were teenagers and she was really anal about cleaning them because she had death breath if she didn't.

[Evermore]

2 ways you can do this.

1. Call her dragon breath and ask who she ate last.

2. as previously suggested, pull her aside and tell her straight out.

[araby]

bad breath is almost always the result of gingivitis or gum disease. Put some floss on her desk. Or..you could leave an anonymous note that reads, "This is very delicate and personal so I want to anonymously let you know that your breath stinks bad. Floss, and you will notice a difference, but most of all, so will I."

"ps, no one knows I wrote this for you, so don't worry about being humiliated."

[Jay]

There's one guy in every office who's a complete asshat. Find him, ask him to tell her.

[vonkaar]

2 ways you can do this.

1. Call her dragon breath and ask who she ate last.

2. as previously suggested, pull her aside and tell her straight out.

Number 1 is exactly how I handle it... just be funny about it. Right when she walks up and starts talking to you, cut her off with, "whoooah.. holy shit, what died in your mouth?" and be all laughing about it... like it's cool, but here's a mint you dirty hobo...

If *you* don't make a big deal out of uncomfortable situations, the other person usually won't. Like, if someone has food in their teeth... you *could* slowly bring them aside and quietly tell them, "I've been meaning to tell you all day that you have this giant piece of roast beef in your teeth... it's fucking disgusting..." they would obviously be pretty embarrassed. But, if you saw it and just flat out called them out on it, "dude, you have food in your teeth - fix it." smiled, and continued your conversation... crisis averted.

So many 'sticky situations' are made worse when people stress over the best way to handle it. Just do it and get over it quickly. If *you* didn't think it was that bad, they won't either.

[Gaazy]

Or just try to stay out of it and catch her away from her desk, put a big carton of gum and some floss on her desk, right in the middle where she can see it, but dont say anything to her. And for comedy purposes, try to watch her when she finds it just for fun