The Economies of Scent

I have been told in the past that my nose has the sensitivity of a pregnant woman. I'm not sure how true that is -- I only know that I have strong responses to various smells -- for example, I am allergic to the scent of most colognes and perfumes.

I returned from vacation today. In our bathroom at work, the cans of "Ooooff" (scented stink masker) have been replaced with three small sticks of something that looks like incense sticking up out of a small vase. Now, the place I work has an international staff. Sometimes I have trouble sitting at my desk through the aromas of some of the food which is microwaved here. I try to keep an open mind and a closed nose. But when that food gets recycled, three little sticks are about as useful as weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. After lunch, like our own weapons of mass destruction, and without the "Ooooff," those scents will begin to stockpile.

I assume it is a measure of the economy; after all, other aspects of our office have been reduced to essential services. The quelling of gastrointestinal gasses may also have been deemed non-essential (but I would have loved to have been at the meeting where this was discussed). "Be grateful you have a job," friends tell me -- but my cubicle is closest to both the kitchen and the bathroom door. Like so many other cost measures in our office (doing away with the water cooler, coffee machine, etc.), this one is likely to produce a shift in cost -- from the employer to the employee. Pretty soon, we may all have our own cans of "Ooooff" in our desks. And in turn, from the office buying one can to each employee having their own, "Ooooff" should make out well, which in turn might just help the economy. I love how our managers think all these things through.