A rose is a rose; A discussion of scents

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By Barbara Semeniuk

Shakespeare quoted:   A rose is a rose and it smells darn nice according to me.  When I was a student in University I used to plaster myself with rose perfume thinking that I would smell better and perhaps attract a smitten man, who, like Shakespeare, loved roses.

 Unfortunately, I upset a friend of mine who told me to tone down the perfume because it gave her a headache.  I was, well, offended and did not speak to her for a mouth until I realized I probably did over drench myself in perfume and I stopped wearing it.

 
My daughter’s school is a scent free environment because many people are sensitive to strong odour and scents.  Scents are like music:  what one person loves, another hates.  Scents can cause headaches and asthma attacks which are potentially life threatening.

 Some doctors are against the use of scents and would like to restrict their use even against the backdrop of companies realizing that scents evoke emotions and create strong buying if done correctly.  They subtly scented a men’s clothing store and sales went up 30% and it worked, with a different scent, in a woman’s store.  Scent is becoming a powerful marketing tool: when selling a home you can buy a spray that smells like freshly baked apple pie so you do not have to bake one yourself. This smell evokes the emotion of home and homes with the scent of freshly baked pie or bread, sell faster and at higher prices.  People can picture themselves in them.

 
Other doctors state that scents cause no allergic reactions and reactions to them are anxiety attacks and banning scents is next to impossible…how do you police this?  Imagine the scenario:  police carrying guns, handcuffs, and truncheons and dressed in black, spray a scent neutralizer on the offending party, handcuff them and place them in a well ventilated cell…sentenced to life without smelling.

 What a sentence that would be!  Imagine a world without scent…the acrid smell of welding, the scent of a hospital, the scent of a truck, the scent of a yard after a spring rain.  Febreeze makes a fortune about creating desirable scents that make your home smell great and disguise the undesirable scents.  

 The sense of smell can be very dangerous: confined spaces can be filled with toxic gases that give no warning at all.  You cannot smell anything!  Hydrogen Sulphide gas smells like rotten eggs at low concentrations but kills off the sense of smell at higher concentrations leading to a false sense of security.  You believe the gas is gone…until you become unconscious and die.

 
Scents can attract insects and insect stings can cause anaphylactic shock. Insect bites can cause disease.  West Nile is spread by mosquitoes and certain scents attract them and certain scents drive them away (citronella). To protect yourself, you are warned not to wear a lot of perfume, aftershave, or scented antiperspirants.

 Scents are a real conundrum: we are surrounded by them everywhere we go and big business  is increasingly using scents to their advantage.  Some are really beneficial: there are smoke maskers that mask the smell of smoke after a fire, or the smell of human sewage….the possibilities are endless.  We have an interesting relationship with scents and being not able to smell is a fate often too terrible to contemplate.  Although it does have its benefits:  I am reminded of a James Herriott story of a lovely, and lively dog that had an unfortunate habit of passing very bad smelling gas and went through several owners until in despair they were going to put down the dog.  The groundskeeper of the owner of the dog said it’s a beautiful dog…may I have him.  They got along like a house on fire:  the groundskeeper, due to a old war injury…could not smell at all.

 A rose is but a rose….a scent can linger with you until you die: either for good or ill.  Scents must be used very carefully, some mask bad smells, some smell terrible, others are a delight. So here’s my wish for a scent filled autumn, my favourite time of year.  Have a Happy Thanksgiving!  Be thankful: have a wonderful October filled with the scent of pumpkin pie, turkey, and the scent of autumn.