But you know those hypothetical questions that are always asked? The ones that are supposed to really difficult? I have no problem at all with "which of the five senses would you give up if you had to choose?".
The answer is smell. Without hesitation.
Yes, I adore the smell of certain things.
- lilacs
- coffee
- baby powder
- Bath & Body Works Japanese Cherry Blossom
- lasagna
- Joe's soap (but not that man soap he was using for awhile - yuck!)
- cat box
- that dude on the elevator
- asparagus pee (TMI?)
- burnt popcorn
- gas (both kinds!)
- skunk
- boiled cabbage
- the HR chick's perfume
- gas station/rest area liquid soap (compliments of Sass)
- sauteed mushrooms (compliments of C. Beth)
- burnt chocolate (compliments of Guaca Molly)
- garbage trucks (compliments of TMC)
They say if one sense is weak, another one will compensate. I think the fact that my eyes suck somehow has caused a hyper-sensitive sniffer. I rarely wear perfume and even walking past the counters at the front of a department store is enough to give me a headache. And while I adore scented candles, I can't spend much time in the candle section of any store.
So today, I'm willing to give up my sense of smell. Maybe in exchange for a nap. Or a pony. Oh wait, those smell too...
21 comments:
Yes, there is a smell worse than burnt broccoli. (Drum roll please)
Mouse pee.... mouse pee smell in a musty old basement.... yuck.
Yes, I have been in way too many old houses... I could totally give up my sense of smell!
Mm... yeah.. I think sense of smell for me too...
How about the flipside? which would be the last sense you would want to lose?
oh, asparagus pee is the worst! I am super sensitive to smells, and more often than not, feel completely assaulted by something or someone stinking up my olfaktories. I would definitely second that smell would be my preferred sense to give up if I had to choose. Hands down.
I love your list of things that smell bad. I don't think I could write a list - there are so many for me (I also have a hyper-sensitive sniffer).
i'm kind of torn between sight and smell.
i'm already practically blind in one eye (due to the revenge of the weird eye guy, and karma) so i move pretty well without proper vision.
and smells? some i could definitely live without.
like inmate laundry.
Ewwww... I'm at school and just got stuck standing next to a girl who smelled like she'd been standing in line at Disney World in 102 degree weather wearing a turtleneck. For a week. Ick! I think I might agree with you on the smell thing.
I'm in agreement. I am also super-sensitive to smells and those are some pretty awful ones you've got listed here. I wouldn't mind doing without them, even it if meant I'd lose lots of other good smells.
There's a certain smell I keep smelling lately in the afternoon near where my car is parked... Brace yourself: It smells like diarrhea baking in the sun. I have no idea what's causing it, but it's extremely disturbing since we park daily in a nice, residential neighborhood within walking distance of our workplace. I'd say that definitely beats out the smell of burnt broccoli, as unpleasant as that is.
One of my worst fears is being sprayed by a urinating asparagus.
Jenna - mouse pee does sound rather nasty. Eww!
Intense Guy - last sense I'd want to lose is harder. I think my vision. It's already difficult with it being as impaired as it is (minus contacts) so I can imagine losing it altogether would be pretty bad. Good question.
Snarky - The HR chick I mentioned, I can tell if she's been in our office area in the last 20 minutes just by the smell. She must roll in her perfume.
Isabella - It was fun pinging Twitter for "bad smell" responses. Some really interesting contributions.
Andy - Inmate laundry may be the winner (loser?). I bet it's awful.
RAS - Oh, the things I smelled when I had to work in the dorms. don't miss that at all.
Juliet - How strange that you can't figure out the source. My car has a strange odor if I've been driving it too hard. Joe always yells at me if he smells that particular odor in the garage.
Mo - Urinating asparagus is lethal for sure. Watch out!
BURNT HAIR ... BURNT HAIR ... OMG ... nothing worse. Excuse me while I hurl!
Oh, the smell is not coming from anywhere in the car, thank goodness! Just somewhere near the car in the neighborhood. From someone's backyard, for all I know.
What I wouldn't have given to be without my sense of smell earlier today!
wait, wait, wait. I specifically said the JUICE that runs out of the garbage truck after the trash has been squished. Because that juice is a whole different stinky animal compared to just the garbage alone.
Just ask a New Yorker. That juice runs in the streets there.
I'd like to give up my sense of direction. I've never had a very good one anyway so it seems like a very small sacrifice.
I love when a really great smell triggers a great memory. Like cedar reminds me of my trip to the grand canyon.
Yeah, I'd have to go with smell, too, since I get migraines from the some of the perfumes, lotions, and cologne my students wear. Makes me nuts. Also, I HATE the smell of corn nuts!
Rotten potatoes that have fallen out of the bag, rolled under the cabinet, been hidden for months, all the while I search for the awful mysterious order. That is the absolute worst smell.
I love the idea of these lists.
Lyndsay - Burnt hair also sounds painful maybe! Yuck!
Juliet - Glad it's not the car itself.
Blognut - After reading your post, yes, I agree.
TMC - Yeah, but the juice from the truck was kinda long to write out and it's my blog, dammit, so I improvised! ;)
PetalsYoga - Haha, that made me laugh. My sense of direction is a running joke in my marriage. When we first moved to this area, I would call my "JoePS" when I got lost. Since his current job makes him less acceptable, he bought me a gps for my car on his first day of work.
Comedy Goddess - There are certain smells that take my mind places. I'd miss that.
She - I'm not sure I've ever smelled a corn nut. Do they have a smell? Certain odors definitely trigger migraines. I hate it.
2cats - oh, that's not just a bad smell. That's bad all around!
I had a roommate in college who has no sense of smell. Like, in her whole life, she's never known what vanilla smells like! She said she doesn't feel like she's really missing out, but it DOES also affect her sense of taste. She only likes pretty bland foods, oddly enough. But yeah...all those icky smells? I could do without. :-P
When you lose one sense, the others do compensate for its loss (take it from someone with experience). However, it takes a lot of getting used to, and isn't always fun. Be grateful you have them all (even if some aren't as great as you'd like). One day you may find yourself with only four of them, and you'll wish you appreciated the one you lost more while you had it.
There are things I used to wish I couldn't see... Now I wish I could see them, because then I could also see the things I'm missing.
I agree. I think I would prefer to lose smell before anything else. Except that don't you lose your sense of taste, too, if you lose smell?
I don't like very many floral scents cuz they give me a headache. Perfume (floral scented) gives me a headache. I hold my breath when walking past people in public, if I know they'll be close enough I can smell them. I despise cigarette smoke so if I'm near a smoker, I'll get away as quickly as possible and hold my breath. I could go on and on. I think I would really miss the 'good' scents though, too. Toughy!
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