The Smeller's the Feller

I was pouring out the better part of four gallons of old milk today.  When the milk expires, I just buy more and often don't take the unused old stuff out of the fridge until it gets in my way.  Well, the four gallons got in my way, so I poured them down the drain after leaving them on the table for a few days until I could get to them.  No problem.

I haven't had a sense of smell for many years.  Thus, pouring out spoiled milk didn't bother me, but it isn't always an advantage.

Why can't I smell?  I blame it on a zillion years of smoking and almost as many years of chronic sinus problems.  Since 1985, I have had three CT scans on my head--two for sinus problems and one for a ruptured brain aneurysm--and all three showed all of my sinuses totally clogged.  I've doctored and doctored...many rounds of antibiotics, several rounds of steroid sprays, two sets of tubes in one ear...and nothing ever helped for long.  I gave up and decided just to live with it.

There are advantages and disadvantages to being smell-less.  For example, pouring the spoiled milk down the drain today didn't impact me in any way.  But at the same time, I can't use my nose to determine if there is spoiled food in the fridge or if the milk is on the edge of going south.

Disadvantages:  I can't smell smoke.  If my house were on fire, I would have to rely on the smoke detectors to alert me.  (Also couldn't detect cigarette smoke in the school bathrooms to catch kids.) Can't smell a natural gas leak.  Can't smell the wonderful cooking aromas of garlic or onions to whet my appetite.  Can't enjoy the fragrance of flowers or candles or perfume.  Can't smell newly-mown grass.  Can't smell my own odor. (We won't go into that!)  Can't smell if others (or I) pass gas.  (See this post's title.  I can never be "the feller" because I can't smell it!  Maybe that's an advantage more than a disadvantage!)

Advantages:  I can follow anyone into the bathroom without repercussions from his/her visit.  I can tolerate anyone's overuse of personal fragrances.  I can go to candle parties and not be drawn in by the wonderful smells. That's about it.

They say that a large part of taste has to do with smell.  If that's the case, I'm lucky in that I can still taste food, but wonder how much better things would taste if I could actually smell them. I don't need to know.  I over-eat as it is!

I don't like not being able to smell things, but I don't miss it day-to-day.  There are too many other things to worry about.  Once in every blue moon, I'll sniff a certain way and a smell will come to me, so it isn't lost entirely.  Just mostly!  I'm the feller with no smeller.  It wasn't me that did it!