I've always been interested in how we can perceive the same thing so differently from one another, and this is a corker. These flowers are called Paperwhites. My ex-girlfriend Paige loves flowers, and after Gerber Daisies these are her favorites.
Our apartment contained Paperwhites about half the time we were there. She loved not only the look but also the aroma, and therein lay the dilemma. She thought they smelled sweet and fragrant, which never ceased to flip me out.
To me they smelled exactly like these brown millipedes, which curl up when disturbed, and if accidentally stepped on stink to high-ass heaven. If I were blindfolded and you held up a freshly-squashed millipede and a pot of Paperwhites, I couldn't tell the difference. It's an aroma that gets into your throat and your lungs and maybe even into your very soul. It's rank.
It's wild that two people could perceive something so vastly differently. At first I thought she was pulling my leg and just putting up with the stench because she loved the way they looked so much, but she convinced me that she really did love the smell. It was perplexing.
Since she loved them so much I put aside my revulsion and got them for her often. I'd put them in the back seat, and even in Winter I'd have to roll the windows down so I wouldn't throw up and have a wreck or make a cop think I was drunk driving or whatever. I'd have put them in the trunk but I didn't want to traumatize them, and that's a real thing btw.
I'd always bug her by asking her to describe the aroma, because it was just so hard to believe. She'd just say they smelled sweet and flowery. We'd be sniffing the same flowers and she'd be smiling but I'd be frowning. Sometimes those millipedes will get inside, and many mornings I'd instinctively look down to see if I'd stepped on one but it was those damned flowers.
There are examples of weird sensory quirks like certain tribes being unable to see the color blue and things like that, but the smell of sweet flowers and a squashed millipede are two vastly different things, yet there they were together. That's the Yin and Yang deal for sure.
I've always wondered if it's a male/female thing or just different snoots. It seems like I recall asking visitors what their perceptions were but I don't remember the results.
I've always said that if I hadn't gotten into music I'd have been a scientist, which is true, and I'd get grants to study quirky stuff like this. I can see it now...Paperwhites vs. Millipedes: A Treatise on Perception by Dr. Kelly Simpson. That's funny.
Maybe I'll do an unprofessional study...I'll buy a pot of Paperwhites and approach random people to sniff them and watch their facial expressions. That really might be fun, and possibly give me some insight into this phenomenon.
How can the perception of the same thing be so different? Is it genetic? Olfactory wiring? Body chemistry? Nostril size? If I hadn't gotten into music maybe I'd have found out by way of science (SCIENCE). As it is I'm still curious.
At the end of the day I think I proved my love for Paige. Knowing how happy those accursed flowers made her was worth fighting the urge to hurl. It's still a mystery. Anyway, cheers Paigey! Don't forget to stop and smell the Paperwhites.
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