I got to thinking about the way things smell, or more accurately, the way we respond to smells.

Like our other senses, or ability to smell is one of the ways we interact with the things occurring around us.

The things we see, smell, hear, feel, and taste are part of life.

There are some smells that people find undesirable, offensive, or even oppressive........but when I think about it, why should anything we sense be "oppressive"?

Of course there ARE things that are truly terrible.

Some people can't stand the sight of blood...perhaps because it invokes a sense of pain or fear.

Some people don't like the taste of spicy foods.....because the sensation can be painful.

Noise, obviously, can be annoying because it can be painful and distracting.

Smells......in some cases can by truly indicative of something bad too. The smell of ****, for example, serves as a warning that you should avoid the source, since **** is full of dangerous germs, etc. The smell of vomit can trigger a spell of sickness, probably because it is associated with a time of sickness.

The smell of smoke, when concentrated, means that you will have trouble breathing and can die. And some people have reactions to many smells that can result in headaches, etc.

But aside from such instances where real danger or pain can be involved, I believe sensitivity to smells is really just a weakness of character.

Some people smell cigars and act as if they are being assaulted. People walk into an ethnic grocery and complain because the smell of the spices and foods are not familiar to them.

We are only on this earth for a short time; it seems irresponsible to me to deny sensual experience to ourselves because of olfactory prejudice.

So when the opportunity to experience interesting smells, tastes, sounds, and sights presents itself; I don't complain too much........and I think anyone who does is a limp little ****.

I heard Iraq has an interesting smell.

I like mothball crystals..

this whole thread stinks.

I don't mind the smell of skunks.......it reminds me of this kick ass weed we used to get in college.....

Wow..you're right, Andy. Next time I'm in a candle shop and I start sweating, getting a headache and wind up puking all over the place, I'll tell the sales girl that I coulda left but Andy told me I was being a ****.

Dumbass

^fine with me Nancy.

^and for the record........I don't like being assaulted by a sickening coalition of artificial smells either.

But it doesn't make me sick.

I can understand if it DOES......and I don't think it makes you a ****.....some people have a reaction to certain smells that makes them physically ill (I said as much in the OP).

What I DON'T understand is how the HELL you are able to make a living as a florist?

LOL.......You nailed my problem....ARTIFICIAL smells.....I could walk through a forest of lilacs in the spring and think how awesome it was. Spray some Lilac artificial **** in a can at me and I WILL puke.

^it's funny......some people insist on owning a compendium of every artificial smell in existence.

A real moneymaker!

I had a bad smell in my house a week or so ago.......dead toad I think, but I couldn't find the damn thing.

I told my wife that we should get a candle.

HOLY ****..........there were a thousand scents. Most of them smelled like perfumed ****. I kept telling her that I just wanted something that smelled like a "Christmas Tree".

I tolerate candles but really only use them when I do something to make the house smell.......which doesn't bother me but bothers my wife.

(Fermented burn't shrimp was the latest)

I like the old cheap incense that comes with the little log cabin.......smells like a campfire.

Also, I will peel oranges and dry the rinds......makes the house smell like oranges. I like the smell of citrus.

Andy, are you a neighbor of that serial killer in Cleveland who had the smell of the rotting corpses he kept in his home wafting through the neighborhood?

In your introspection you thought, "Why should I object to that smell."

I like the smell of vanilla.

Smells usually don't bother me.

I would object to the smell of rotting corpses because it is the smell of rotting corpses.

Most animals ought to object to this smell, since putrefied flesh is not good for you to come into contact with, so I think there is a instinctive biological factor........but mostly I object because they are rotting corpses.

I was made a lot of general comments in the OP, but my point is that I think people who turn into dramatic pussies every time they smell something are pussies.

Some people will read you the riot act because you smoke a cigar fifty feet away from them. I get dirty looks because I load my food up with hot sauce and other ****.

These types object NOT because the smell is bothersome, but just because it exists.

^^Exactly Andy! Like my ****, crybaby coworkers when I fart.

It's a natural bodily function, people!

garlic and pizza is good for me

lestoil is usually excessive and while not nasty, I look forward to it's dissipation

pot roast and onions is great, cloves too

deisel fumes not so much

Pot smells good.

^^^GAAK! Sorry - no. Smells like someone's car engine is burning up....

haaaaa...

As for artificial smells, I stick to vanilla (not a sweet one that smells like frosting, but one that smells more like vanilla extract) and a little cinnamon in the fall and winter. Spring and summer is orange oil and soap. All year long I'll put the candles and air fresheners away completely if I've got coffee or bread cooking....