WORSE SMELL EVER ....

[Diane Amberg]

           DON'T ASK!!!

[kdfrawg]

Yup, that bone meal experience was a lot like my fish meal experience, except that mine had the extra added attraction of smelling like rotted fish. I don't guess that probably made it all that much worse, actually.

[flo]

I kid you not, this is true.  When I worked at the co-op we had a customer that I couldn't breath when he came in.  I literally held my breath while I waited on him then immediatly went outside for fresh air.  We had to spray lysol in the air after every one of his visits.  I have smelled some foul things, including the guys when they were cleaning the spoiled and fermented grain from the bottom of a pit (and that stinks), skunks, sewers, dirty diapers, but nothing and I mean nothing could compare to this guy.

[W. Gray]

One of the worst things to hit my nose was the smell of a heavy set bag lady as she pushed her grocery cart containing all her earthly belongings down the sidewalk in Washington, D.C. in full view of the White House. It was so bad, people created a several foot corridor around her as she pushed by.

***

The 7th Finance Section during the Vietnam conflict contained a large upright "safe of death."  This safe was not opened unless absolutely necessary.

US dollars were taken from each GI as he entered Vietnam and he received a like amount of Military Payment Certificates (MPC). MPC was a substitute for US dollars, were the same size, and had the same value but were good only while in country. All GI paydays were in cash at the time and payment in Vietnam was with MPC. The intent was to keep US dollars off the local economy.

Many times, a soldier went into combat carrying MPC. Inside the safe was MPC taken from dead GIs. A sickening odor literally exploded from the safe immediately as the doors were opened engulfing the vault and spreading out into the office in general.

Sometimes, a body lay in the hot jungle sun for a considerable time before being recovered. As the body bloated and decayed, the odor penetrated billfolds and MPC bills giving them a terrific horrible stench. When a body was badly torn and bled profusely, blood permeated the bills acting as glue binding them together and magnifying the odor.

Bills recovered from bodies were inventoried and sent to the Finance Office where they were immediately again counted and placed in the death safe. Every bill reeked. Most were blood soaked. Many had to be pried apart to determine the amount. 

These bills were eventually destroyed, but not before being held for some time pending disposal of their value. Once a dead soldier's will was processed by Army lawyers, they authorized a Treasury check in the MPC amount recovered sent to the man's designated beneficiary.

[Diane Amberg]

   Unfortunately, I totally understand that smell.

[kdfrawg]

And there is no worse.

[Sherri]

Molded, wet, rotten soybeans

[Janet Harrington]

Lots and lots and lots of human blood.

A decayed body at an autopsy.

[kdfrawg]

I think if we were taking a vote, human bodies that have been dead for a while would win. It is truly unmistakable.

[Jo McDonald]

Suggestion:
Why don't we "bury" this thread and go on with something else?  Sorry -- I think I have read the worst of the worst.    Forgive me!