The smell of singleness
Imagine it's 1991. You turn on the TV to see that guy opening the door with a suitcase. He says "I've been gone a long time and you're still going strong." Or something like that. Is he mad that the woman he told to leave is still there? No! He's happy his Renuzit brand air freshener is still off-gassing flower-scented chemicals!
This is the first thing I thought of when a friend e-mailed me telling me that since his girlfriend left after a long visit (at least I think that's the scenario -- this friend is sorta hard to keep up with), his apartment has started to smell like a locker room.
As it happens, I also just came back from a long trip, but my b.f. managed to keep things from reverting too far to the state of nature. I think it's because he kept using my shampoo.
Of course girls smell better than boys. That's an incontrovertible natural law. But is there something else that a girl's presence brings to a home in the strictly olfactory dimension?
My theory is that we are all cleaner and tidier when there is a chance we'll be observed -- boys and girls. What's yours?
Comments (3)
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I am kind of a neat freak myself, and have seen some very messy girls rooms/homes. Especially in todays world, I think the idea that one gender is neater than the other is gone. It was probably more true in my mother's day and age.
Posted on April 5, 2008 7:54 AM
Yeah, this weekend I was talking with a buddy about one of my first dates with my b.f. He brought over the Sunday New York Times and two diet cherry cokes. Until hearing his explanation this weekend, I just thought the drinks were a weird fluke of his personality. Now I know the real story: he knew me and my (female) roommates only had condiments and booze in our kitchen. And we had most of the other signs of "bachelor" housekeeping -- and we all came from two-parent homes. In fact, I think we all had stay-at-home moms for our younger years.
So the moral of the story is, PNG, I agree with you about modern times, and also you should probably never come to my house unless you think of it as a field trip for science class.
Posted on April 6, 2008 6:21 PM
I'd say that men can be messier in general, but when women let their places get dirty, they get really dirty.
Posted on April 7, 2008 5:11 PM