Bro, Did You Use Deodorant Today?

We have two teenage boys, and both of their rooms are...well, funky. The older one is caring more about hygiene, so that's getting better. But my middle-schooler? Whoo-boy. Honestly, I was hoping he'd somehow avoid this fate. And it seemed for a while that he had. Alas, no. 

So we tried an experiment: Pit Liquor. Now, this kid has never been good about using deodorant anyway, so I had my work cut out for me. But thankfully he was on board for this. He'd never used a spray, so that was "weird." It smelled different than the regular stick deodorant he was used to--and this is a kid who doesn't like change. AT ALL.  But he used it diligently for a whole week--well, diligently after we reminded him for the 10,000th time that he has to use deodorant every day. 

Oh, and did I mention he runs cross country at his school? That's right...this isn't just an experiment. It's an EXPERIMENT. Because when a middle-school boy comes home after running 4 miles in the hot sun, you know it. The whole neighborhood knows it.  

So we had to do some sniff tests. I say we but it was really me. My wife is totally supportive of her kid smelling better, and she's a fan of Pit Liquor herself, but there's only so much she's willing to do in the name of science. And smell a middle-schooler's armpits ain't it. 

And he really did smell better! I'd smell him first thing in the morning and there was no noticeable smell. I'd smell him in the afternoon and there was a bit but not very much. And then I'd smell his pits after cross country practice. I didn't even get hazard pay! But I'm being completely serious here: There was some smell, but it was hardly anything. In a middle school boy's cross-country funkified armpits, that's basically a magical artform. I couldn't believe it. 

And he loves it, too. The kid who doesn't like new things has a new normal. He's been using my spray so he asked me, "Dad, what are you going to do when your Pit Liquor runs out?"

I dunno, son, but it's worth whatever it costs...