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My dog, Charlie (this picture doesn't
do him justice). |
I have a dog named Charlie who likes to sniff anything and everything on our daily walks. I like to say that this is Charlie's daily "aroma therapy" session. He's really into smells. In that sense, I think Charlie takes after me because I too am into smells, and I have my own version of aroma therapy. I never leave the house in the morning without my daily shot of deodorant and body spray along with a dash of cologne.
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This ought to be a required insprection before you can join
a gym, board a flight, or be hired for a job. |
Let me tell you one other thing about my sense of smell. I have a serious aversion to body odor, to point of gagging. I remember years ago, I had this stereotype in my head that only guys who were total slobs would be the ones to have BO. I have been in the gym on a treadmill next to a guy who reeked of BO and had to stop what I was doing and move at least 3 treadmills away to escape his foul smell. Do you think he even suspected why I was moving to another treadmill? Not at all. Apparently, people with BO seem to think they smell pretty good and can't imagine anyone not wanting to be close to them, even other people are gagging. I can't imagine how they ever have a relationship or sex with a spouse? Doesn't the spouse smell what I smell? Is she too afraid to tell him. How does she put up with his BO day in and day out?
My image of the stereotypical BO offender was knocked on its head one day when a beautiful young blonde stepped onto the treadmill next to me and at that moment I noticed this foul odor. I looked around to see where it could be coming from because the LAST place I expected BO was on this beautiful girl. But, knock me up the side of my head if she didn't have some of the worst body odor that a human could emit. I thought to myself: Doesn't she bathe? Doesn't she use deodorant and perfume? Why does she smell like this? Does she date? Do these guys smell what I'm smelling? How do they deal with it? Don't they have the guts to tell her? Why don't I have the guts to tell her? I'm chicken and I admit it. I decided that maybe she was trying to do a European thing, but on me it wasn't working.
Along those same lines, I was recently on a flight from Chicago to Baltimore. The plane was packed and my son and I were seated in the last row, which is already a drag because those seats don't recline and you have the passengers in front of you reclining and taking up even more of your limited space. You can barely open up your lap top, but you can't unfold the screen all the way because there's not enough space on your little tray when the seat in front is reclining. Know what I mean? If you're assigned a seat in the last row, forget the laptop. Bring a tablet.
I was in the middle seat, fastening my seat belt and securing my electronics and greeting this nicely dressed business woman seated next to me in the window seat. First think I do is look to make sure that she's not grossly overweight and taking up half of my seat. Fortunately for me she wasn't and everything was going fine until she reached up to turn on the air jet. At that moment, I smelled something horrible, bad enough to make me want to gag. It was BO, and it was coming from her underarms and I sat there wondering how I was going to make it through this flight, which was packed with no empty seats. I tried holding my breath.
Somewhere around Pennsylvania, I no longer noticed my seatmate's BO. Maybe my nose and sense of smell had become numb to it. For whatever reason, I enjoyed the final hour of the flight and was hoping that this woman was NOT on my connecting flight to Albany, NY. Fortunately for me and everyone else, she wasn't.
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Shameless promotion and product placement. What a
great product from liberals in Vermont. |
Renee and I are always on the lookout for a deal on Yankee Candles. My favorite scents are jasmine, evergreen, pine & honeysuckle. Renee knows that I like to come home from to a house with candles lit and a great fragrance emanating throughout the house.
Now along the lines of fragrance and aromas, I was reading this passage in
2 Corinthians 2:14-16 (GW)
14
But I thank God, who always leads us in victory because of Christ.
Wherever we go, God uses us to make clear what it means to know Christ. It's
like a fragrance that fills the air.
15
To God we are the aroma of Christ among those who are saved and
among those who are dying.
16 To some
people we are a deadly fragrance, while to others we are a life-giving
fragrance.Who is qualified to tell about Christ?
The greatest fragrance of all is the fragrance that emanates from someone who knows Jesus Christ. I am always amazed that God can use me to be a sweet-smelling fragrance to some people and to others who chose to reject Jesus, I am the stench of death. But Jesus is the sweetest fragrance of all. My prayer is that his fragrance will emanate from my life more and more.
I, too, am sensitive to smells. There actually are genetic and neurological components to one's ability to smell and to how offensive an odor is.
ReplyDeleteThis point was illustrated just yesterday in my Sunday school class. Upon entering the classroom, I noticed a damp gym shoe smell. As others came in they also made remarks about the smell in the room. One agreed with me, one thought it was a dirty diaper, and two thought it was stale popcorn. Others smelled nothing at all. One of the ones who thought it smelled like stale popcorn said he thought stale popcorn and gym shoes smelled pretty much the same.
As far as people are concerned, I have noticed that a number of people that I am around regularly have certain odors that I would call unpleasant. Their spouses, and others, don't appear to notice it. I think, in these cases, the issue is body chemistry rather than hygiene.