Of Scents, Smells and Stinks

Have you ever noticed that when you walk into The Bay, Sears or even Shopper's Drug Mart, that you are walking right into the perfume section? I haven't been to The Bay or Sears for years but I do visit Shopper's Drug Mart on occasion because they usually have the Canada Post outlet. I've always wondered why stores did that... and now I know.

I was listening to a YouTube video while tidying up some data, listening with half an ear to the Secrets of Selfridges. You do know Selfridges, don't you? The mega department store on Oxford Street in London, an icon of shopping. It was started by an American, Harry Selfridge, back in the 1800s and it revolutionized shopping. They let people browse/window shop. They had washrooms. They even had elevators between floors. The introduced fetching window displays. The let people touch the wares. What a thought. And... Selfridges introduced the practice of having perfume (and jewellery) by the front door. Gee... thanks Selfridges...

You see, I am a bit sensitive to scents... and smelly perfumes. They can give me an instant headache if I'm not careful. I usually take a deep breath of fresh air before entering Shopper's Drug Mart and try to hold it as a scurry through the stinky perfume section and head for Canada Post. That doesn't work so well in The Bay where the scent section covers such a huge area. Although, I can usually find a secondary entrance that avoids the worst of it. In an age where more and more people suffer from scent allergies, it boggles the mind that places like Shopper's Drug Mart and The Bay, still assault potential customers with scent. They might as well hit them over the head. So many places are now "scent free".

I find one of the worst times and places for scent assault is Value village on Senior's Day. I know that the olfactory senses of the elderly deteriorate over age (according to my mom). They have trouble smelling things, so when they go out, they really load up on the scented body lotion and/or the perfume. I'll be wandering through Value Village and hit a wall of scent... I quickly look around and identify the person surrounded by a cloud of scent... anywhere from 6 feet to 10 feet away. I do everything in my power to avoid that person... but sometimes there are so many that I throw up my hands in defeat and head for the exit. I don't need an instant headache. I haven't figured out how much exposure generates the headache... it's not an experiment that is all that pleasant.

And just in case you're wondering... it's not just perfume. I love lilacs (in moderation)... I once cut a big bouquet and put it in my bedroom when I was a teenager. I went to sleep that night and woke up in the morning with a screaming headache. You can have too much of a good thing. There is, of course, cigarette smoke... very nasty. Combine a whiff of that with a hot day and I can feel the headache storming towards me.

Let's top all this off with the comment that for some asthmatics, excessive scent - be it from cigarette smoke, cleaners, perfume, hair spray or air fresheners - can be life-threatening. Someone might think that they smell "pretty" but... to someonelse, that "pretty" smell is an assaulting stench.

So... thanks Selfridges.