The Sour Smell of Eeeevillll
Well, I'm not sure how popular this post will be, but I think I can smell evil people. Really. I'm really starting to believe this.
Yeah, yeah. You think this is crazy. Crazy things aren't crazy if you realize that they sound crazy when they really aren't the result of actual craziness. So settle down.
Okay, maybe evil is too strong and loaded a word, so for the sake of compromise let's say I can smell people that aren't very good for me and potentially many others. Hey, people believe in the unfalsifiability of organized religion and that's a real implausibility. I'm gathering physical evidence here...read on, you'll see.
Here's the background story:
A few years ago when I was living and working in London, England, I worked alongside an interesting fellow for a couple of weeks. He was hired as a temporary presentation specialist, someone who helps investment bankers prepare presentations meant to win hundred million and billion dollar deals. At the time, I had just segued out of equity research and into the more creative side of investment banking, if there is even such a thing. When doing this work you don't have your own computer. You just jump on to the nearest available computer. This is because people are in and out of there all day and all night. Presentations for investment banks are prepared 24 hours per day - it never stops until the presentation is done and there is always another one to prepare following on the heels of the former.
The first time this guy sat next to me I almost fainted from his scent. This isn't a non-hygenic body odour scent. This is your own personal pheromonal scent - your signature if you will. The scent was overwhelming. I couldn't breathe. Nausea overtook me. The bile rose in my throat. It was like having to vomit the substance of nothing. I wanted to expell the feeling of foreboding that rested within me.
That time I just stuck it out until I was able to leave the building for the night. The next time I couldn't take it, I just up and moved.
Joseph! That's it, his name is Joseph! Joseph was alright to talk to if you could keep the unfortunate expulsion of bile from decorating his face. Other than the pheromonal warning, there was nothing unsusual about him. He was a normal, even conventionally attractive man.
Then came the three week Christmas/New Year's break that the bank so generously offered its employees (a generosity and understanding of the value of personal time that doesn't seem to apply to North American branches).
After the break, Joseph didn't turn up for work. No one had heard from him. Suddenly, one of the managers with whom I was close came to me and mentioned that she had received a call from the CID - the Criminal Investigation Department. The CID is responsible for investigating murder, drugs, fraud and the like. Your typical Law and Order fare. The CID were looking for Joseph.
I KNEW IT! I SMELLED HIM OUT!
In the past, I had "smelled" this kind of thing, but until you have enough experience with something you don't realize why a certain person or a certain something upsets you a priori. I have learned and I am still learning to trust myself in these kinds of situations - to trust that primal instinct that tells you when something is right and wrong in the intangible sense.
Well, it's happened again. This morning, in the class that I am auditing, a classmate who I have never seen before sat beside me. And he smelled like he wasn't very good for me or for others. I immediately turned my head and began breathing into my hand, using it as a filter. I tried to press my nose into my cup of coffee. I tried to ignore him. Nothing worked - that metallic, sour taste infected my tongue and I have no reason to ignore its telltale sign.
I won't allow him to sit near me again, but I will remain aware.
Scared? You shouldn't be...
Kisses,
Laurelle
Yeah, yeah. You think this is crazy. Crazy things aren't crazy if you realize that they sound crazy when they really aren't the result of actual craziness. So settle down.
Okay, maybe evil is too strong and loaded a word, so for the sake of compromise let's say I can smell people that aren't very good for me and potentially many others. Hey, people believe in the unfalsifiability of organized religion and that's a real implausibility. I'm gathering physical evidence here...read on, you'll see.
Here's the background story:
A few years ago when I was living and working in London, England, I worked alongside an interesting fellow for a couple of weeks. He was hired as a temporary presentation specialist, someone who helps investment bankers prepare presentations meant to win hundred million and billion dollar deals. At the time, I had just segued out of equity research and into the more creative side of investment banking, if there is even such a thing. When doing this work you don't have your own computer. You just jump on to the nearest available computer. This is because people are in and out of there all day and all night. Presentations for investment banks are prepared 24 hours per day - it never stops until the presentation is done and there is always another one to prepare following on the heels of the former.
The first time this guy sat next to me I almost fainted from his scent. This isn't a non-hygenic body odour scent. This is your own personal pheromonal scent - your signature if you will. The scent was overwhelming. I couldn't breathe. Nausea overtook me. The bile rose in my throat. It was like having to vomit the substance of nothing. I wanted to expell the feeling of foreboding that rested within me.
That time I just stuck it out until I was able to leave the building for the night. The next time I couldn't take it, I just up and moved.
Joseph! That's it, his name is Joseph! Joseph was alright to talk to if you could keep the unfortunate expulsion of bile from decorating his face. Other than the pheromonal warning, there was nothing unsusual about him. He was a normal, even conventionally attractive man.
Then came the three week Christmas/New Year's break that the bank so generously offered its employees (a generosity and understanding of the value of personal time that doesn't seem to apply to North American branches).
After the break, Joseph didn't turn up for work. No one had heard from him. Suddenly, one of the managers with whom I was close came to me and mentioned that she had received a call from the CID - the Criminal Investigation Department. The CID is responsible for investigating murder, drugs, fraud and the like. Your typical Law and Order fare. The CID were looking for Joseph.
I KNEW IT! I SMELLED HIM OUT!
In the past, I had "smelled" this kind of thing, but until you have enough experience with something you don't realize why a certain person or a certain something upsets you a priori. I have learned and I am still learning to trust myself in these kinds of situations - to trust that primal instinct that tells you when something is right and wrong in the intangible sense.
Well, it's happened again. This morning, in the class that I am auditing, a classmate who I have never seen before sat beside me. And he smelled like he wasn't very good for me or for others. I immediately turned my head and began breathing into my hand, using it as a filter. I tried to press my nose into my cup of coffee. I tried to ignore him. Nothing worked - that metallic, sour taste infected my tongue and I have no reason to ignore its telltale sign.
I won't allow him to sit near me again, but I will remain aware.
Scared? You shouldn't be...
Kisses,
Laurelle
posted by Laurelle St. Laurent at 2:47 p.m.
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