In one of my first blog posts I referenced an article titled “7 Rules You Should Follow When Visiting Someone With Cancer”, and discussed some of my thoughts. One of the things that article mentioned was being mindful of smells, and it recently occurred to me that some of our friends might not know about Karen’s sensitive beak (yes, a reference to her baby duck head).
Karen has a sensitive nose. She’s always had one. But now it’s super sensitive. It borders on being a super-power. Honestly.
What this means to me as a husband is that I don’t get to buy Karen stinky stuff (perfumes, soaps, oils, etc.) even though that’s what husbands do, even though she might like them, because it’s just as likely that she won’t. If I had better taste this might be different, but I don’t, so it doesn’t. And, that means I buy more practical gifts, like vacuum cleaners, fans, websites, etc. People look upon me with horror when I tell them I bought Karen a vacuum for a gift, but ask her what she thinks! They are pretty nice vacuum cleaners! 🙂
Restrictions on smelly things effect my husbanding ability, but should also be kept in mind by our guests, please. It’s not necessary to put on perfume or cologne to make yourself “smell nice” when you visit. Karen can probably still smell the scent you wore yesterday. But that also means no visits if you’ve been cleaning the sewers, or fresh from the gym without a shower.
No, this is not a secret message to anybody! All of our visitors have been great. This only came to mind because we are buying a couch and had misfortune. Karen found the couch she loved, but it was the last one, and was a floor model. Unfortunately, it was too stinky. We went through the all too familiar routine, “Do you smell that?” “No.” “Here, smell here.” “I don’t smell anything.” “Right here.” “No.” “Can you really not smell that?” “No.” etc. It’s probably something worthy of a Saturday Night Live skit if we had a secret camera.
It’s the same sensitive nose that got me to quit smoking. Oh, you didn’t know that I was a smoker? You probably met us after we were married. When Karen and I were first dating, she told me that she wasn’t sure she could marry a smoker. I considered this for a moment and told her that I’d quit next Tuesday. When the day came around I handed her a half pack of cigarettes, and haven’t had one since.