I lost my sense of smell
A bit of a dramatic title, it makes sound like I just lost my sense of smell, but the truth is I can’t smell anuthing for almost two decades.
At some point, when I was six or seven, I stopped smelling things. Maybe I never could, or perhaps I lost the ability gradually and no one noticed until years later.
Either way, this little fact about me is practically part of my personality. It would definitely be on my character sheet.
I always end up mentioning it for one reason or another, and people always forget. Usually, they remember a second after offering me something to smell. And it’s always funny.
Everyone acts as if they’d just said "High five!" to someone without arms.
Overall, I don’t mind my lack of a sense of smell. It’s probably because of the time that’s passed, it’s been so many years that I barely remember what most things smell like.
I can still catch the aroma of coffee, but only if I stick my face right into the jar. Sometimes sugar, too, but it has to be something very sweet.
My daily life isn’t all that affected. I just have to be extra careful not to leave the gas running in the kitchen and make sure I’ve put on deodorant before heading out.
There have been a few incidents. Like the time I didn’t notice my mom had left the stove on, and the plastic handle of a spoon in the pot was melting and smoking.
And, because the world loves irony, my sister has an incredible sense of smell. She complains about the scent of my hair creams and refuses to change any child's diaper, so I get stuck with all the dirty work.
But you know what I only realized recently? How my sense of taste is affected. The fact that I don’t know the individual scents of ingredients makes it hard to recognize their distinct flavors in a recipe. I don't know what cinnamon smells like, so if a recipe has just a little bit of it, I won't notice.
Now, you might be wondering: why can't you smell anything?
The most likely answer is allergies. I suffer from allergic rhinitis and sinusitis, things like dust, dust mites, smoke, cold air, and cats instantly make me sneeze, tear up, and get a stuffy nose.
I remember my first bed, it was old, and the mattress might as well have been used by Columbus himself. I barely slept at night, and my nose was constantly running. At the time, I just thought of myself as a snotty kid, but the combination of allergies and a bed basically made of dust mites explains it all.
After 2020, this problem became more common. Some people lost their sense of smell due to COVID and are now in the same boat as me, so I’m not exactly unique anymore. The one thing I’m really curious to smell is rain. The scent of rain seems magical.
Thanks for reading!
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