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July 17, 2010

Sniff Sniff Cough


Walking in the store
looking at frozen juice
Open the frozen food door
reach in for some juice

Two women pushing carts
Are now sharing my space
Nice older women
obviously friends

My eyes start itching
suddenly there is no air
My breathing is labored
Eyes are now running

The brain kicks in
I now understand
the two women near me
are reeking with perfume

I have to get away from them
Right. Now.

41 comments:

Ms. A said...

I hear you on this one! I don't get watery eyes, but I do cough and go into a severe brain fog and HAVE to escape. Same thing in the laundry detergent aisle. Can't do it.

Kazzy said...

I am gonna guess lilac scent???

Anne H said...

Some times, though, the perfume smell covers up something much worse!
:D

Gappy said...

Some restaurants where I live have banned the wearing of overpowering perfume because it puts off the other diners.

It is horrible when you can smell someone before you can even see them.

Opaque said...

Haha, I get what you convey here. I have many a times come across people whose, so called Cologne has been an assault to my senses.

-Don said...

I can relate, having had to leave Dillard's once at a run to try to get my breath back. That was the first and only time this has happened to me, but it helped me to understand what those with asthma have to deal with. My Dad, who was a preacher for decades, can no longer go to church because his entire respiratory system starts to shut down around all the perfumes and colognes.

People need to remember that just a dab'l do ya'...

-Don

LL Cool Joe said...

I actually love it when women and men smell of perfume and cologne. :)

It's other smells I don't like.

Brian Miller said...

typically i like to catch the scent of others...and then there is my gramma who smells like a perfume bomb...so pungent you can taste it...ack.

Dave King said...

Can't stand heavy perfumes - but well done you, turning it into poetry.

R. J. said...

Great poem. I love just a whiff of perfume, but not an assault on the senses. I've read that there are some ingredients in perfumes that trigger extreme allergic reactions in some people. I try to be considerate of sensibilities of others. It may reach the point, like cigarettes, that it has to be banned. I can tell if someone has walked through a room where people are smoking. Smoke clings to clothes and hair. I tend to be intolerant of smoking.

DJan said...

This happens to me, too. I walk into a room where someone has a scent that seems to take all the air right out of the room.

To make it into poetry and sharing it is inspired.

Jeanie said...

This was a nice way to express what can really be a big problem. I quit wearing any perfume years ago when I worked in a doctor's office.

ellen abbott said...

I'm with you on that one. Back when I still had boyfriends, the first thing I would do was to get them to stop wearing cologne! As long as it's not sweaty stinky (and a bath takes care of that), I prefer people to smell like people. Let the flowers smell like flowers.

Debby@Just Breathe said...

I hear ya! With my asthma people like that kill me....

Stickup Artist said...

And on top of the perfume and cologne, practically every product we buy is infused with some scent or other. And when all that mingles, watch out! I'm always skeptical about anything that isn't a natural or organic product myself. It's like food that says "flavored" and doesn't contain the ingredient one would associate with the flavor. It's a crazy world.

Ina in Alaska said...

I too dislike overwhelming perfume. Why do some women do this!! I have asthma and it affect me too. I have noticed women of a "certain generation" are prone to saturating themselves with scent. And it does not make them attractive.

Also, sweet post about your son.... I loved that you bought him an ice cream cone.... nice mom.. xoxo

Kristina P. said...

That is the worst!

TALON said...

If you're allergic, that must be hell! I love a soft scent on someone, but when the perfume or cologne sticks around after they've moved - yuck!

secret agent woman said...

As people age, their sense of smell is diminished and they don't even know how overpowering their perfume (or cologne, because men are offenders, too) is. But I'd take the strongest perfume in the world over having to be subjected to the smell of someone's cigar. That literally makes me gag.

Bill Lisleman said...

good comments already here. SA woman nailed it - they can't smell it themselves. Even young people lose the smell of it because you get use to smelling it all the time.

You should of broke wind for them.

Joanna Jenkins said...

Ha! I know exactly what you mean. With really older women it's either too much perfume or the smell of moth balls!

Hope you're having a great weekend Techno.

jj

Mike said...

People always seem to want to occupy my space! I hate that!

Anonymous said...

I can't stand a lack of spacial awareness... that and stinky perfume!!

heartinsanfrancisco said...

I hate it too. Right up there with cigars, cigarettes, and vomitus.

Unknown said...

..... reeking with it? I only do oil essences. Perfume makes my nose blocked.

Especially cheap ones.

Will do an entry about this. Tq :)

Shrinky said...

My little sis' has the very same problem, which is a great shame, 'cos I LOVE wearing perfume (smile).

Syd said...

I like the natural smell like fresh linen. Heavy perfume is too much. Light stuff is okay. Smelling like sunshine is the best.

The Urban Cowboy said...

You hit it right on the 'nose' with this! When I do wear cologne myself, it is only a single spray...just enough to mix with my natural smell.

Alexandra said...

We have the same thing with our family. My 3 boys have asthma, and begin coughing before I can even smell the perfume or aftershave.

I develop migraines after I smell heavy perfumes.

Thank you for your generoug and uplifting comments...I tried to look for an email contact to thank your privately, but Thank You.

Anonymous said...

I think sometimes we don't smell it and put way too much?? I think it has happened to me atleast once! LOL

Robert the Skeptic said...

Actually I find that a subtle flower scent on a woman quite evocative. But I guess I've grown more accustomed to the scent of my wife's under arm deodorant.

Ed Pilolla said...

hahah! that's too good. like a cloud of chemicals. so dig the art you chose fer this:)

Heidrun Khokhar, KleinsteMotte said...

Perfume can totally mess me up. Several times over the years I had exposure that made my heart race so fast I couldn't catch my breath and ended up at the ER.
Now I leave the spot where there's a strong scent asa fast as I can. I take meds before venturing into a possible overpowering place but it isn't always able to keep me safe. To bad it also affects kids and their ability to concentrate in many places. They often act out and are perceived as not well behaved. Poor things!!

Heidrun Khokhar, KleinsteMotte said...

An other interesting side note to your lovely poem; Here in theGTA staff working in hospitals and teaching centres are no longer allowed to work wearing strongly scented items. Students may also be refused into classes. It appears that fragrances affect some's ability to function optimally.

Ms Hen's said...

I went into an Abercombie and Fitch in the city; the cologne they sold was reeking .. I started to cough; that never happened to me before.. lol.

I know some people on the trains and buses .. have too much cologne on; but now more and more I am smelling more peaceful subtle scents... thank goodness.. maybe the perfume market is changing..

Love this post.

Bob Bushell said...

Yea, I do know it is, trembling, all it is hell.

Gary's third pottery blog said...

oh GOD!

Claudya Martinez said...

I have to tell my mom not to wear perfume around me because it drives me bonkers.

Hilary said...

Lovely when it's subtle but so offensive when it's excessive.

Attila the Mom said...

Oh geez, I hear you. Except my allergies kick into overdrive when I've been around someone who has been smoking pot! It gets in their clothes and my sinuses swell up and my eyes start burning and itching.

This has happened to me a few times over the years standing behind someone in the grocery store or next to someone at Blockbuster. Needless to say, I haven't been to a concert in about 15 years!

Marla said...

I bet it was that old lady Rose stuff.