I’ve been getting migraine headaches for over 20 years, and man do they suck.  For me, strong scents will trigger and exacerbate them.  I felt one beginning to creep up this afternoon.  I cut out of work early to seal myself in a dark room with some medicine.

Before today, I never noticed each individual smell of my commute.  The 7th Street/Metro Center station has its familiar musty and sour background smell, but it wasn’t until my sinuses were attacked by an army of small, painful scents that I recognized them for what they each were.

The guy smoking a cigarette on the escalator.  The kids outside smoking a joint.  The cinnamon-sugar pretzel samples being handed out on the landing.  A chorus of cheap cologne.  Rotting garbage.  A child’s soiled diaper.  Dozens of bodies in a train car after triple-digit temperatures.  Urine in the dark elevator lobby.  The bleach from the custodian’s cleaning supplies.

I wish I could enjoy the moment to be able to recognize each smell for what creates the background smell.  I wish I could enjoy the proverbial forest for the trees.  I really do.  But each smell is attacking me in my moment of vulnerability.  I have fallen to the army of smells.