[housewife]

I was assigned to work on a project with another student, we are supposed to sit together on the same computer, I found out that he has awful breath.
how can I tell him that without hurting his feelings.
I overheard 2 girls making fun of his breath, saying "Tom smells like a stinky bathroom".
I felt sorry for him.

[avery3]

bring some gum- pull out a piece for you and say- oh tom you want some!? maybe you can make it fun- like bring a different kind of gum or mint to share each day!

[housewife]

He doesn't like gum

Avery3
I took your advice,
I have just offered him some gum , he said "No, thanks"
help

[patricias213]

Approach him when no one is around, start talking to him telling him how you like him as a colleague, then casually tell him about how his breath is a little bad, you might include that everyone, including you has bad breath at some point too and you are looking out for him by telling him this, also if you want, you can mention to him what that you overheard two girls saying talking about his bad breath. By then he should get the idea and try to control his breath. remember to talk to him casually not in an insulting way. hope this helps.

[housewife]

patricias213

OMG
what have I done.
I wrote him a letter about his problem as you suggested and before we left the lab last Friday I gave it to him, today (Monday)he did not show up
I just received an email from him saying
"hi, I will be working today from home."

I think I made a disaster.

[patricias213]

wrong move

OMG
what have I done.
I wrote him a letter about his problem as you suggested and before we left the lab last Friday I gave it to him, today (Monday)he did not show up
I just received an email from him saying
"hi, I will be working today from home."

I think I made a disaster.

You approached him the wrong way. Writing a letter to him does not show how you really express yourself he did not see your facial expression, thats why i sugessted that you actually TALK to him so he can see your facial expression and hear the tone in which you speak to him, i mentioned to speak to him casually, NOT write a letter. that was the wrong move, so no, you didnt take my advice. If you had i dont think it would have ended up like this.

[housewife]

couldn't have talked to him

This man respects me so much, and I do respect him.
I just couldn't have told him in has face something horrible , my face would have turn red and my heart would have beaten so fast, and I would have started stammering and messing up in my talk .
I thought to myself I was going to put everything in my mind in this letter,
I started out by saying how much I like him and I care about him that is why I am concerned about his feelings and his reputation.
...
I will wait and see.
I will be so embarrassed to see him tomorrow,

by the way what I did is not acceptable in my culture (middle east)so I am not used to it yet.

[patricias213]

If you had told him those exact things you put into the letter things would have different. You already wrote it so now just wait and see how he acts around you, be friendly to him.

[Guest]

try..

just take tic tacs to school and say hey i baught some tic tacs and had a little to many and give him like the rest..i had that problem to with someone soo yeah

[housewife]

Problem solved

patricias213
you won't believe what happened.
Tom did not show up on Monday and Tuesday.
which almost made me lose my mind.
no contact with him at all .
Today, wednesday, he came ,
when I saw him I wished that I was invisible, I was sooooo embarrassed to look at him or talk to him.
he was smiling at me, when he reached me he said , "you are a true friend, thank you so much"
but hey I did not smell any bad breath at all.

we talked, what happened was that he never knew he had this problem, and now he has a reason why he has never gone on a second date with any girl. even he is handsome, smart and funny.

during the past 2 days , he visited a dentist and fixed many problems in his teeth.

it is like magic , it is 100% gone.
I felt relived, and happy for him.
he even started making jokes about it, once he passed that 2 girls, I heard him saying "somebody smells like a stinky bathroom, yuck"

patricias213 , Tom should have thanked you not me .