Our brains fixate on experiences that can dwell inside us for years. Little things set off these
memories, bringing up strong emotional aftershocks, that can momentarily blow you away. It's a
bit of a pain and even frightening at times. I have yet to meet someone who feels great about
deja vu.
There are a few things that set me off. Maybe it's a song or a picture, but more often than not it's
a smell that brings on a full body rush of anxiety I wish I could blow out of my nose into a tissue
and flush down the toilet.
I've gradually learned some of the smells that set me off inside. The smell of an early winter's
morning reminds me of wanting to cry on the way to kindergarten. Pressed facial powder causes
self consciousness issues to surface from middle school. Basements scents dig hard into the back
of my head where I can picture 40 year old bicycles in my grandparents cellar where I spent
summers playing.
The twist is that most of these are optional. I'm not a fan of pressed powder compacts nor am I
waiting for a bus at the crack of dawn in the winter anymore. I can keep the anxiety away that I
built up during the golden days of childhood. But there is one smell, one worry inducing,
something is going to go wrong, they are going to cause me pain, heart racing smell... the
medical smell.
I think we are all familiar with the medical smell. It's universal, in the United States at least, thus
making it not universal. The hospital, the dentist office, and the doctor's waiting room all have
this scent. It's crisp and clean but nauseating. It's reassuring. It says "you will be better in no
time, we will fix you up right away". However, it also says "something is going to be terribly
wrong though, and the only way we will be able to help you is by causing excruciating pain".
The smell floats around buildings infecting areas that don't need to have the smell. Multi-use
buildings, even with just one medical facility, are saturated in it. It travels and sticks so well that
even "Mr. Johansson's Injury Corporation" feels secure and clean.
Can't we do something about this smell? Is there no Glade plug in we can get or potpourri we
can pour that will cloud the air with something a little more pleasant than antiseptic? Let's light a
nice jar candle and think about it together. This smell has the ability to cause heart palpitations.
Which brings to mind at least ten conspiracy theories regarding health plans.
My greatest worry is someone bottling and marketing the smell. "Keep your home as fresh as the
doctors office," and "Feel secure that your living space is sanitary" playing on the radio. This
needs to be kept in check. I'm going to have to start telling health professionals that their office
smells like crap and hope for a change.
This needs to be taken care of before we can't go anywhere without being reminded of needles.
