For those that can't read the image:
>playing some mtg with my college group that meets up at my best friend's every friday
>one of the players asks if his friend can join next time we play
>nobody has a problem with it
>next friday rolls around
>everybody gets set up
>knock on the door
>best friend opens the door
>immediate regret
>actual fucking fecal smell emanates from this mass of unkempt hairy adipose
>try my god damndest to be polite and try to ignore the smell and just play.
>he picks up the game pretty quickly, and thankfully he doesn't speak too often because each time he opens his mouth the halitose burns my nostrils.
>we tolerate this for exactly 10 minutes before the poli-sci dude in our group slams his can of altoids on the plaguelord's side of the table and blurts "do not fucking speak in my direction again until you've fucking emptied this your breath smells like death."
>dead fucking silence for 10 seconds.
>plaguelord gets up, apologizes, and leaves
>we try to pretend this never happened.
>next week rolls around, its still on everyone's mind.
>knock on the door
>takes a few moments to recognize the stranger in front of us
>holy shit its the plaguelord, and he's fucking clean
>completely shaved his patchy neckbeard
>is wearing what looks like a brand new clothes, his jeans even still have a sticker on them
>smells vaguely like strawberries instead of rotten onions
>teeth still stained but the halitose is completely gone and replaced with mint.
>apologized for last week, asked if he could play again
>fast forward a few months and now he's a regular at our table, he even brings homemade snacks.
Has this ever happened in your groups or is this some sort of anomaly/divine intervention?
The power of feedback, and I’m saying that without any sarcasm/irony. Most people never get genuine, honest feedback in their entire lives. The people closest to them shelter them and beat around the bush not to hurt their feelings (or the opposite, they intentionally hurt if they are assholes).
But strangers don’t care about your feelings, they can be honest.
Of course they could have been nicer in the story, guy propably had a shitty night and felt bad, but will thank them years later for this moment that transformed his entire life and gave him a different future.
Ironically they weren't "nice" because they thought it was good manners to stay quiet until it became too much to handle. Not having good manners is sometimes the most ethical option.
It's a massive parenting failure to do this to your kids.
My kids have occasionally needed a shower and not been aware. That happens as they go through puberty and learn.
"You need a shower before you head out". Done. No fuss. It's not offensive if you don't tiptoe around it. Mildly uncomfortable the first time but that's it.
They then learn that it's not socially acceptable to stink and that they need to pay attention to themselves.