“It would seem that restricting one’s right to wear perfume or cleaners would be a huge breach of personal freedoms, but to me it’s one of those “Your Rights End Where Mine Begin” situations. Some random person’s right to douse themselves in Old Spice or Chanel No. 5 ends where someone else’s right to venture into public spaces without having their health jeopardized begins. There is no situation I can think of where one persons health or liberty is put in danger by not wearing scent, or not having a public bathroom smell like some bastardization of a “ocean breeze”. Even smokers can argue the addictive properties of nicotine. Doesn’t apply here. What does apply here is Andie’s law of being a decent human being: “Other People Exist. Don’t Be An Asshole.””

This paragraph really helps me to reconcile personal freedoms with a lot of public health issues: no smoking areas, peanut-free lunch tables, “scent-free workplaces are all things that on the surface seem to cater to only the person who is affected, but in reality mean that someone’s quality of life is dramatically improved. (Now what happens when you work in retail or food service, when you can’t kick out a customer for reeking of smoke or cologne, without losing your job?)