Clean Air Act

A while back, I promised a future post about obnoxious odors. Today, I was painfully reminded of that promise, so here it is.

I'm here at High Point, working on some class prep and reading for an article. Toward the back of the store, where I am today, is a bench-style seat against the wall. In front of that bench are three small tables, each with a chair opposite the bench. This, essentially, provides a spot for six (or a couple more) people to sit together or for, at a minimum, three pairs of people.

When I arrived, another person was at one end of the group of tables, so I sat at the opposite end. Not too long ago, she left. Soon thereafter, another young girl sat down in that place with her books and laptop. It took about two seconds for the odors to waft my way and only about two minutes for my head to start hurting.

Did she bathe in her perfume? Should it be so strong such that I, a good six feet away, am overtaken with her aroma? Seriously?

Shouldn't perfume be that thing that is enjoyed by a person nuzzling your neck---not by those who are three people away? Okay, maybe we can wear a little more that your neck needn't be actually nuzzled; I am willing to compromise. But surely you should have to be right next to a person to smell them, don't you think?

Okay, maybe we should consider the event: if one is going out to attract the opposite sex, put on a little more. Leave your scent lingering in the air after you walk past . . . but only for a short time, yes? And even then, should you be able to smell the person this far away? And is going to a coffee shop on Sunday to work on school work the place where you go with the same purpose? Okay, so maybe it is. I've seen some attractive men in here. ;-)

After my visit to Africa, I got used to the scent of people---as opposed to perfume. (There's very little deodorant used by most of the people I met there.) And I must say, that scent is preferable to me. For what smells good to one person from a bottle does nothing but attack another's entire respiratory system.

Who's burden is it, though? Should I walk around wearing a mask? Or should people stop bathing in their perfume? For the people who wear so much you can smell it across the room, well, in my humble opinion, that’s usually just too much. People should have better sense about their scents. Alas, that isn’t going to happen. But arguably, if it's my problem with the scents and my allergic reaction to them causing my headache when I’m very near a person, that is my problem, and I need to increase my tolerance for strangers in public---when we have to be in close proximity. So I’ll work on that . . . but I gotta get out of here first, lest my head actually explode.