When sitting next to office window stopped being fun

I sit by a window at work so, unlike many of my colleagues, I get to enjoy fresh air, if you can call the air that circulates within the Nairobi CBD fresh.

Lately though, the “fresh” air I have been enjoying for some time now is sailing through the window laced with the strong smell of garlic and acrid spices from as early as 9am.

By 9.30am, I am nursing heart burn, thanks to the overpowering smell. At around 11am, the smell of cooking ugali takes over, which is a relief because the smell of ugali is not heart burn-inducing.

At around 12pm though, the smell of potatoes frying in overused oil masks all other smells that have been wafting uninvited through the window and continues to do so until around 2pm. By then, my tummy feels bloated, as if it is stuffed with garlic, an assortment of eye-watering spices, a huge lump of ugali, and then crowned with greasy chips.

There is nothing I can do about the discomfort though – people have to earn a living, and people have to eat, don’t they?

SNIFF SNIFF

This Monday to Friday discomfort reminds me of those times that we have extended family occasions and, therefore, have to cook. A party isn’t a party in Kenya if it doesn’t have chapati but, by the time you are through, your tummy will be swollen with the smell of frying chapati, and you will not be able to stand its very sight.

Talking of smells, I have a  heightened sense of smell, and tend to sense smells and odours long before everyone else does, which can be very irritating to those around me.

Imagine having such a conversation with me:

Me: (sniffing, eyes narrowed with suspicion) “What is that smell?”

You: (looking puzzled) “What smell?”

Me: “That smell … you can’t smell it?”

You: (sniffing hard) “No …”

Me: (sounding incredulous) “The smell of an over-ripe banana! Don’t tell me you can’t smell it!”

By then, I am looking under pillows and chairs for the offensive banana, while you stand by, looking perplexed.

I also have a habit that irritates those who know me – I sniff stuff – I sniff food, I sniff clothes, I sniff paper bags, I sniff shoes, I sniff socks - I sniff just about anything that I come across and want to use or wear but does not look that inviting. It is something that I unconsciously do, and only realise that I have done it when someone points it out. Needless to say, it can be embarrassing.

Once, a friend gave me a pair of shoes she thought I would like, only for me to sniff them first before putting them on. I cannot begin to say how offended she was, and I had to profusely apologise to convince her that I was not scoffing at her generosity.

When I was younger, I would deliberately sniff the exhaust fumes that come from trucks, until I became older, and started wondering what people would think if they saw me crouched behind a truck, breathing in the poison with a dreamy look on my face.

Come to think of it, some of the things we do or don’t do, are influenced by what we think people will say or think of us, though in my case, this worrying about people’s perception of me worked in my favour because I would probably be dead by now, due to sniffing all those poisonous fumes.

Have a heartburn-free Sunday, and may all the smells you smell be pleasant.