Andrea says I have a keen sense of smell, and it definitely comes in handy. If I'm doing some automotive troubleshooting, scorched brake pads, engine coolant, and gear oil each have distinctive odors and if I detect them, they bear some investigation. With food, I can generally determine the level of seasoning from the aroma. At times I've leaned over to Andrea across the dinner table when we're out and whispered a prediction, "Too much soy. This is going to be a little salty."
The drawbacks can be more acute. At Auburn, I spent a day at a paper mill as part of a class. Anyone who's been downwind of one of these facilities never forgets the smell. It took me a week of showers to fully eliminate the stench, and I wound up tossing the clothes I wore. I couldn't imagine that place being my job site, but the father of a college classmate was in that position. Her dad, an engineer at a paper mill, totally ruined his sense of smell because of the job. She quipped that her mom buys perfume for her own enjoyment since her dad is now oblivious to whatever she fragrance she wears.
I tend to associate a lady with her perfume. I once had a corner cube in a cube farm, and I could identify most of the women walking past the other side of my partition just by their chosen scent. "Oh. Hey, Olga." Her head would pop over the partition. "How did you know it was me?" I just smiled, "It's my super power." For me, a woman's perfume becomes my identifier for her. It's fine, until it isn't. Once when we were back in Long Beach, Andrea was using Mom's bathroom to get ready for an event (other guests were using the main bathroom). Andrea noticed Mom's perfume and took a whiff. She apparently liked it, and asked my opinion about starting to use it as well. I think my retort was an emphatic, "Umm. Hell no."
For the record, this super power works on guys, too. I was sitting in my office when I catch an unmistakable scent wafting in. "Oh, hey, Eric." Eric popped his head through my door. "How did you know it was me?" I sat back and looked at him. "Dude, I just know. Chris next door bathes in Polo, Milind always has a mug of coffee, and you...you overuse hand sanitizer."
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