SMELLS

I told a friend recently that I was staying a few nights at the W Hoboken, and she astounded me by saying: "wow, I really like how that place smells!"  And I thought: "hotels have smells?"

Those who know me well know that I have anosmia, which means I have no sense of smell.  None at all.  As far as I remember I've always been this way.  Most people equate my condition with how they feel when they have a bad head cold, but it's really different.  First of all, even with a cold, some percentage of your sense of smell is still operating, and secondly, you already know what things smell like, and so can 'fill in the blanks', as it were, from the hints your stuffed-up nose is providing.  Me, I get nothing.

So back to the hotel.  There's both a restaurant and a bar on site, but I wouldn't expect that to be unusual.  So I'm guessing it's the shop that's just off the lobby where they sell full-sized bottles of the soaps and lotions which are provided in the room.  According to the bottles, most of the items in the room were sage and lemon, although one was chamomile, rose hips, and passion flower.  A whole shop selling that stuff would undoubtedly provide quite a signature.

Now here's my dilemma.  When I use this stuff, how do I smell when I walk out on the street?   Since I have no basis for comparison, I wear an aftershave Cynthia selected for me, liking how I smelled to her.  How does this mix with the hotel soaps?  I'm often surprised by how sensitive people's noses can be.  Well, nobody seemed to notice anything wrong.  Of course, since I spent much of my time in bars, I suppose such subtleties get lost.