In my continuing series of posting blog titles in 4 different languages (Serge Ibaka the basketball player recently gave an interview in 3 different languages, fluently! So I'm jealous) I examine the powerful but underrated role of scent in our memories and senses. Japanese and Korean both have distinctive terms for the idea of "scent," but in Chinese the word for a smelling scent is close to like "smells nice" and the second letter means "taste," so it's associated more with like a flavor that one can taste in their mouth. It's an interesting way to describe scents, but scents go way beyond just tastes.
I don't profess to have a keen sense of smell, but just like I can remember most people's faces and have a knack of remembering who someone is based on their face, I instinctively remember experiences based on smells, and especially so if it's a strong scent or smell. I think a lot of people have similar experiences, but it's hard to identify experiences just based on smell......Oh remember that one time we went by the ocean and really smelled the seaweed and salt of the ocean? Oh remember when we outside after it rained and could smell the dampness all around? People don't usually identify their lives based on what going from scent to scent, but it's an important bookmark for our lives.
1.) I didn't actively try to sniff girls back in my single days (cuz that would be creepy), but I admit that I got attracted to girls more if they smell extra nice (that's where the fragrance companies really did great work). The less artificial and natural smelling, the better, like flowers or what I imagine a serene waterfall would smell like.
2.) Grocery stores definitely have a distinctive smell, probably designed to get us to buy stuff, but it's an earthy, organic feel at Whole Foods and Trader Joe's that makes us think "healthy." And a warehouse kind of smell at Costco that makes us think "buy in bulk."
3.) Restaurants, especially bakeries and coffee shops, the smell is super important. Match a good ambiance with good coffee roast smell or fresh bread and good smell, and you could have people staying around for a long time.
4.) Subway gets a bad rap I think for artifically wafting their bread smell out into the air around the store. I once passed a couple outside of Subway who seemed visibly distraught that they had to endure the smell of Subway, like "I knew I smelled Subway! Damn it!" I don't mind it, but I do get the cheapness of the smell.
5.) The smell of casinos, of all the different cigars and cigarettes compiled together, has further turned me off of Las Vegas. Worse, my clothes smell of casinos when I get home (this applies to gentlemen's clubs too, when I used to go there).
6.) The smell of a baseball game adds to the American pasttime feel of it, the beer and hot dogs and concession stands.
7.) MJ insists on the smell of incense at home, which gets out the smell of man that I apparently emit. Understandable.
8.) Someone recently told me in a conversation that each of our bodies give off a distinctive smell when farting or burping, so that we all kind of enjoy our own bodily gases but get turned off by other people's. I'm not gonna disagree with that.
9.) The smell of money.....is overrated. Nobody really uses cash anymore.
10.) The smell of new books is underrated. Makes me want to read more.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
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