That’s me. I bounce from one table to the next as new people sit down. Once I even shifted all my stuff to a new table, started to sit in the chair and then moved everything back to one seat over from where I just was. It’s not like I just moved my latte back and forth. I also have a computer, iPod, water bottle, bag and sweater.
I needed to escape from someone’s perfume. It’s a sickeningly sweet floral-ish scent, which would be disgusting even if it weren’t a headache trigger. I’m having a good day; there’s no way I would wreck it in the otherwise lovely coffeehouse.
The perfume is being overpowered by garlic sauteed in butter. That smells fabulous, but the cloying scent has already done its damage. And the woman across from me just put on lotion. . .
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Nope. The worst thing is the smokers who drench themselves in cologne in a vain attempt to hide the smoke smell.
No, I’m wrong. The worst thing is the heavy smokers who went to the bar before coming in for an appointment, and then drenched themselves in cologne to try to hide both the alcohol on their breath and the smoke smell on their clothes and hair. That’s the worst.
🙂
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Ick. I encountered a heavily cologned smoker last week. It was awful.
Kerrie
Boy, can I relate! For me, it’s not whether the scent is good or bad, natural or chemical. They are just a trigger. I, too, move from table to table in restaurants, theaters, etc. Also in meetings. I remember screwing up the courage to tell my secretary that I her perfume gave me headaches, explaining as best I could that it was about my sensitivity, not her taste. Even so, she got pretty angry. “This perfume costs $100 an ounce!” I underlined that it was not about quality. In another setting, when I had to move away from a colleague in a meeting, I whispered, “Don’t be offeneded. I have to move because of your cologne (I had told him repeatedly beforehand about my sensitivity), not about you.” He then announced in a very loud voice, “You’re right! It’s all about you!” Oh well…
Something that I find even odder are the few powerful scents that I CAN handled, mentholadum and other camphor smells among them. Have others had this experience?
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Well, you know, the more expensive it is, the better it is! It sucks that you have to deal with your coworkers being snide.
I’m sensitive to a variety of odors, fake and real. There’s no rhyme or reason for me. Maybe those strong smells are just not an issue for you. It doesn’t logical, but it’s what I’ve found.
Kerrie
this is why my husband says I have the nose of a bloodhound. Hmmm, maybe I could get a job with the police dept. Just a suggestion. NO, then I would have to leave because of MIGRAINE! duh. I remember this one lady that used to come in, I can remember her name, and the horrid scent of her perfume, to our office, it would make me sick to death. I dreaded each time she’d make an appointment. I don’t get it. Why do perfume companies insist on marketing stinky smells? Better yet, why do old ugly people wear or buy them? It really just magnifies their um, qualities. Don’t you think?
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The worst thing is that companies advertise their perfumes in magazines with scent strips. Ugh, they are vile.
Kerrie
Ugh. That’s just the worst. I’m usually okay with women’s perfume, but men’s cologne is awful for me. I feel your pain.
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That’s funny. I do worse with women’s perfume that with men’s cologne.
Kerrie
that’s me with smokers; even if they’re not actually SMOKING, they smell like it, and it’ll trigger a migraine within minutes. i try to be polite, but never want to spend more time than i have to sitting next to a smoker. i always worry that they think i’m rude for getting up as soon as they sit down. what can you do?
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I try not to worry if people think I’m rude (or strange). I’ll probably never see that person again. If anyone asks, which they rarely do, I tell them why.
A friend just told me she was next to a guy in a line who was looking at her strangely. When the man’s wife came up, the man moved away. His wife told my friend that it was because he’s sensitive to smells and my friend’s perfume must have bothered him. But she didn’t have perfume on, had no hairspray, etc.
She realized how many smelly things she uses — shampoo, conditioner, soap, lotion, deodorant. Fortunately, she wasn’t offended by the man’s behavior, it just made her think about how much it sucks to be sensitive to smells.
Kerrie