I've lived in New York City for years now. I've walked past Chinatown fish stalls in August; I've watched a dead rat bloat and deflate over the course of a week on the R tracks at the Union Square subway station. I've inched away from homeless men on the train, who were rank from fermenting urine and body odor.
None of this prepared me for the smells I experienced in India. There were dirt floored toilets that smelled so powerfully of ammonia that I had to wrap a scarf around my face in order to enter it. There were bathrooms that were worse, that I was completely unable to enter. I shared a six person non-air conditioned train berth with fifteen people, none of whom wore deodorant, and two of whom pressed against my arms and thighs. Nothing prepared me for the smell of an overcrowded Delhi train station.
Smell is so powerful because odors become a part of us. When we smell something, molecules from that thing are physically entering our bodies. We sometimes think we're being assaulted by a smell because we ARE. That dead rat, that fish, that homeless guy, that toilet, all become a part of us.We're about to begin reading a new piece, called "Jenifer." In preparation for that, please think of the most memorable thing you've ever smelled, and describe it in a comment on this blog.
I was getting on the R train from 71st continental and I had my ipod in bumpin hard so I wasn't paying attention when I got, I took a seat and looked around and everyone was on the other side of the train and I was by myself so I was like wtf...I look to my left an there's a homeless lady then suddenly she gets up and on the seat she was sitting on there was a brown streak and I freaked I was like Oh shit thats doo-doo!!! and i ran to the next section of the train...
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe most memorable thing I smelled was my mother's peach cobbler on Thanksgiving. She always tortured the family by letting us wait for 5 hours before eating it.
ReplyDeletei guess the baddest thing i ever smelled bad was when i was on the Q58 it smelled like dead fish
ReplyDeleteThe smell of vomit makes me wanna run away. That smell is horrible and smelling that makes me wanna throw up. The smell of vomit is a unforgetable smell -___- .
ReplyDeletei was waitting at 59th and lex waitting to go home coming from my step mothers house and it spelled like armpits and pissy people aka bums who live there dead rat and like alot of fat people peed on there slefs from waitting for the train to come the smell started to get wrost it got odee bad that i needed to get on another train and i was odee tight cause i got home like and was odee tried .
ReplyDeletethe worst smell i smelled was around 82nd in front of mickie ds.
ReplyDeletethe worse thing i ever smelled is a indain body order........they smelled like they havent showered for days i feel like the smell is on me and i just want to curse the person out for just coming out the house smelling like crap x( xp
ReplyDeletethe most memorable thing that I ever smelled was bathrooms that are just made of dirt tiolets and they smell like dead bodies
ReplyDeleteonce i had to go to go to a nursing house and when i when inside the building its smell good but once i got were they had the old people it smelled like dead people or rotten food yeah pretty nasty then i just said hell no and i left my mom alone ;) kevin
ReplyDeletethe most craziest smel i experinced was when an cat died & i walked passed it & i seen the insides it was soo nastyy i had too cover my nose & look the other way
ReplyDeletefrom adonis
The worse smell was a asian persons breath, it almost make me throw up..
ReplyDeleteThe worst thing I had ever smelled is those drunk mans that wonder around in the park for days.
ReplyDeleteThe worst thing I have ever smelled is the smell of a dead cat on the street.I cant really describe it but it was just so nasty and disgusting.
ReplyDeletethe most disgusting thing i have smelled is the bums on the e train.
ReplyDelete