I'm a member of various groups on Facebook that I suppose act as a sort of support network for anosmics worldwide and for the past few weeks they have been full of messages of fear and sadness. You'd be amazed at the amount of people that can't smell that worry about poisoning all of their family and friends with their Christmas dinner. It's not as silly as it sounds, really. Anosmics can't smell when food is burning or if it's gone off and quite often our sense of taste is impaired as well, so we can't try the food before we serve it to our loved ones. Similarly, many can't then taste the result of having spent the majority of the day slaving over a hot stove (hopefully an electric one to minimise the risk of an undetectable gas leak).
What about that idyllic image of sitting in front of an open fireplace, whilst the weather outside is frightful? What's more frightening to an anosmic is the possibility that the fire hasn't completely gone out by the time they go to bed, the smoke detector might be faulty and due to being unable to smell everything burning, they don't realise until the house has gone up in flames.
By the way, I don't want to boast, but not only can I not smell Christmas trees, but I also can't touch them because I'm allergic. My life is terrible.
Don't get me wrong though, I love Christmas and I'm sure many other anosmics do too. Not being able to smell it doesn't take away from the main joys of opening presents, being with your family and it being acceptable to start drinking alcohol at ten in the morning. However, it does also make it quite a stressful time for a variety of reasons. I know that there are obviously much worse people off during this period, I just wanted to write about some of the stuff that affects me and hundreds like me that other people may not have thought about.
Although, just because I might not be able to taste Christmas dinner fully still does not mean I will eat brussel sprouts.
What about that idyllic image of sitting in front of an open fireplace, whilst the weather outside is frightful? What's more frightening to an anosmic is the possibility that the fire hasn't completely gone out by the time they go to bed, the smoke detector might be faulty and due to being unable to smell everything burning, they don't realise until the house has gone up in flames.
By the way, I don't want to boast, but not only can I not smell Christmas trees, but I also can't touch them because I'm allergic. My life is terrible.
Don't get me wrong though, I love Christmas and I'm sure many other anosmics do too. Not being able to smell it doesn't take away from the main joys of opening presents, being with your family and it being acceptable to start drinking alcohol at ten in the morning. However, it does also make it quite a stressful time for a variety of reasons. I know that there are obviously much worse people off during this period, I just wanted to write about some of the stuff that affects me and hundreds like me that other people may not have thought about.
Although, just because I might not be able to taste Christmas dinner fully still does not mean I will eat brussel sprouts.
