Story Prompt is hosted by Sunday Scribblings – Peckapalooza’s The Confusing Middle

I know I am in good company. That’s why we often see signs claiming it’s a fragrance free zone. Allergies abound. It’s too bad really, because some scents are exquisite. Wouldn’t it be great if it was possible to have pretty scents that are hypo-allergenic.

I used to wear perfume, way back in my teenage years, but had to quit. Something changed in me, my chemistry, to the point that what used to smell nice on me, suddenly didn’t. Sad, sad, day.

My allergic reactions have increased over the years and more and more things have became bothersome. Now, I avoid anything with a scent. There are a variety of reactions and some fragrances are less intolerable than others. I’m sure I could find something that would work for me but I don’t love perfume enough to search for just the right one.

This affliction affects many areas of my life, I’ve even had to quit a job over this issue.

Having left a job I loved (mostly, anyway) and taken another job that I didn’t, it was a safe place, I found myself in a bit of a dilemma.

The thing about this new place of employment was – it was full of scents of all kinds. Drugstores are like that. It had a thriving gift section with candles, oils, and all things pretty. The store also had a perfume case. While the gift section was near the front of the store the perfumes were at the back. It wasn’t difficult to avoid that area. Most of my time was on the cash registers at the front, well away from most things smelly.

My allergies were taking a back seat to more important life concerns, and I just put up with the minor reactions.

The interesting thing about perfumes was their attraction for shop lifters, a surprise to me.

There were other things in the store attractive to shop lifters too. Some products were a cheap substitute for alcohol. Others were ingredients used in the manufacture of street drugs, while popular items were sold on the black market to generate cash.

Changes had to be made to reduce shrinkage and the plan for the perfume case was to move all of it to the front of the store, on the shelving behind the tills.

Sometimes life has to become intolerable before I am willing to make changes. It was so bad that I was hearing impaired with the fluid build up in my right ear yet, I was still only flirting with the idea of quitting. Fortunately the decision was made easy for me in the end. My boss wanted to change my part-time status to full-time. Talk about a shove off the end of the pier.

It was a blessing in disguise. I found a better job, in a fragrance free zone.

The last couple of years an unidentified agent has rendered me hearing impaired for a few weeks in November. I guess quitting a job won’t be the easy solution to the problem this time.