I just got home from seeing an opera in Clinton tonight ("La Traviata," in case you were wondering) and even though the opera was wonderful and the cast superb, I couldn't help but be irked by a few things tonight.
First...in a case of Murphy's Law, if there is one tall person in a room of 500, that person will be seated directly in front of me. And by tall, I consider anyone over 5'0, which I am. So of course not only do I have the tallest guy in the room in front of me right away, but two tall Amazonian women in the next two rows up. *Sigh* I know they can't help it, but it just always seems to work out that way. One woman in front of me could not sit still, and was constantly bobbing her head around from side to side like a pigeon. I hope she has a nice crick in her neck tonight...*grumble*
My main gripe with this evening's festivities wasn't the tall person blocking my view of the most important scene in the opera. No. It was really a case of perfume overload. And since the crowd was mostly filled with seniors tonight, it was that horrific 'older lady' perfume.
The woman in front of me was not only an Amazon, but decided to take a bath in Eau du Musk Ox. Nothing grosses me out more than a musky scented perfume. We were sitting right by an air conditioning vent, and it was just a constant stream of...ugh. I'll admit that I am a little more sensitive to perfumes than most, having bad allergies. But ladies...(and some gents, I won't discriminate) please try to remember that just because YOU think it smells great, doesn't mean the rest of the free world does as well. Spray your probably-overpriced-as-all-hell fragrance then walk into it. Do NOT spray directly on the skin, do NOT spray more than once.
Imagine sitting squashed together in these tiny seats, surrounded by about 10 different perfumes. Yeah. It made a three hour opera really comfortable, I tell you.
It just astounds me the way women are so liberal with perfume. There is a woman in my apartment building who literally leaves a trail wherever she goes. I know she's on my floor, because it starts from my floor (the top) and winds its way to the garage. Sometimes she takes the stairs, as noted when I opened the door the other day and my hand reeked of her disgusting vanilla designers imposters spray. It followed me all the way down the stairwell . Sometimes she'll take the elevator, and it'll be el stinko for the rest of the night. I mean...why would she think that we all want to smell like her, all day? (and I had to really scrub my hand to get the stench out when I finally reached a sink)
And just to prove I'm not totally sexist on this, a similar thing happened to me last week at Dunkin. I pulled up to the drive-thru to get my cup 'o joe, and Don Juan there handed me my coffee...and I almost drove right away from his Drakkar Noir or whatever he was wearing without my coffee. The grossest part? My entire coffee cup reeked like his cologne that was *all over his hands.* I kept on smelling it all morning until I finally threw away my coffee, half finished. What a waste.
I'm not totally against perfumes. I just wish I wouldn't suffocate when people have them on. Just remember please...to think before you smell. Not everyone might be quite as enamoured of your perfume as you are.
well stated :0)
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