We did our weekly date on Saturday afternoon. There were around a million people in the store. All of them were in my way.
We walked to a different section of the store than we usually shop in, and I got slammed in the face with the smell of cinnamon. There was a display of friggin' cinnamon brooms and a couple huge boxes of cinnamon pine cones.
I pulled my shirt collar up over my nose and mouth, but it was too late. Had an instant migraine. It got worse. And I needed drugs and a nap to get through it, but after the nap etc I felt okay.
It pisses me off that from now until after the holidays I have to be careful about where I shop, have to avoid art supply stores, craft stores, anyplace they sell holiday decorations.
:::sigh:::
I can't understand why they don't put their display of smelly stuff OUTside the store.
On the other hand, I am pretty sure that whining about the cinnamon to store management or corporate people would just get me a great big laugh from them.
::sigh:::
I have the same problem in a lot of stores. Some of the nicer ones I used to go to at the mall, had the perfume counters right where we entered and those would just about take me down. I would get so mentally confused I had to leave, plus, my throat would start closing and my glands in my neck would swell and my nose would burn like crazy. I could actually taste the scents for about 3 days, until my body would finally process it out. It's one of the main reasons I don't get out much. The laundry detergent and cleaning product aisle in the grocery store does the same thing.
ReplyDeleteI have to steer clear of the laundry aisle most of the time, especially if I'm in a vulnerable hormonal state.
DeleteI SWEAR it burns my nose hairs when someone who's doused in perfume walks past me. I do not go to malls at all, but in the past I've had the 'perfume girl' approach me, and made cthe sign of the cross at her saying, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO."
I'm sure they all thought I was crazy. The fact that I probably am has no bearing here...
Just one of the reasons I find to avoid the mall and other stinky ass places. Cinnamon smells and other artificial cloying scents like that wreck my head.
ReplyDeleteHee hee... a new category for places I don't want to go... 'stinky ass places'.
DeleteI can't STAND strong smells like those.
I agree. That stuff SHOULD be outside, and even then, it is really strong!
ReplyDeleteI wonder how many people feel this way and never say anything, thinking the same way I do, that they'd just be laughed at.
DeleteHmm.
Give it a couple of weeks. By then the cinnamon smell will dissipate... but then we'll be into the fake sugar cookies and holly berry smells...
ReplyDeleteYummy.
Delete::sigh::
my husband has this issue, it burns his nose and nauseates him. I rarely get to go to any type of store like that after September because of it.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how many of 'us' are really out there? Interesting, because although I knew of a few, I didn't really know many.
DeleteHmm.
wow..I cannot imagine having a reaction to those scents...they are everywhere!!
ReplyDeletebummer..
Everywhere and IN MY FACE!!!
DeleteI hate it and can't do a thing about it.
I am sorry this ubiquitous scent thing is just another trigger for your migraines. It's just not fair. It's not only the holiday overscented decorations, it's the laundry aisle at the grocery store, and various stores in the mall, too.
ReplyDeleteWell, I don't go to malls, overpriced, too many people, sensory overload for me and there's a frenetic, echo-y dropped-off-on-an-unfamiliar-planet feel to them.
DeleteBut yes. Too many BIG smells all over the place. Can't even walk past the candles anymore.
they shouldn't laugh , scent allergies are terrible, I have to run through the entry of our drug store to get past all the perfumes and potpourri without having an attack
ReplyDeleteConsidering so many people suffer from migraines, I think management should be mindful of where they put their smelly stuff. If nothing else, section it off in a corner of the store. Who buys those brooms anyway??
ReplyDeleteYour post title brought back a happy (but unrelated) memory. Way back when we liberated a gerbil named Cinnamon from Violet's preschool. Actually the ladies there held the doors open for us as we took Cinnamon and her cage out to our car. They were all afraid of her. They wore these big gloves when they fed her. She was a killer. (She was tough but all gerbils are, we never got bitten by her and never wore gloves around her.)
ReplyDelete