There just aren't many things that hit the same plane as the unsavory scent of skunk spray. Burning rubber comes close. To be succinct, there are some things nobody would ever want to happen to them; that is why I'm glad it happened to a co-worker of mine, because I don't know how I'd have reacted had things been reversed.

This time of year is his favorite time; The weather cooling off, a crisp scent to the air in the early part of the day, and he can run the vents instead of the air conditioner in his car on his 5am drive to work. He loves the cold, and rarely finds the need to even pull out a light windbreaker, let alone a thin jacket.

It seems like yesterday that I was telling him how my little brother wouldn't shut up about how horrible our house smelled since the dog had been sprayed. Wait, that was two days ago... Anyway, I went on to tell him that I'd seen many of the black and white creatures along the roads and had already had several close calls with them myself.

Yesterday, when I stepped away from my car, I couldn't help but notice that classicly burning stench that I know so well. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out where the smell originated because it so fully permeated the air. The worst part was that it seemed to follow me as I traversed the halls toward the timeclock so I could start my shift doing laundry for the facility. Out of curiosity, I walked up the hall to the housekeeping room to see if there was anything to be wary about that I should know. Lo and behold, a previously stated co-worker stood in the cramped space spraying himself down with an entire cans worth of air freshener; he had his classic 'I did something increadibly stupid' look on his face, but he said "Don't ask."

I couldn't help but laugh until my sides hurt. "Hit a skunk?" I sputtered.
"Yeah."
"Had the vents wide open, didn't you?"
"When don't I this time of year? Don't we have anything that doesn't smell flowery for air freshener?"
"Only if you want to smell like vanilla..."


On a side note, don't ever try to cover up that odor with fabreze or even just air freshener; it creates this sickly-sweet smell that burns the nose and is nearly as bad as when it's used against gym clothes that have been stewing for a few months (Happened to be at home when my little brother tried that. We both gagged...). You WILL have to throw the clothes away...



Oh, and just to prove that I don't only talk about these experiences and worse, a friend of mine just recently moved back from afar. I know it's only temporary, and I will NOT go into detail about the why of it, but at least for the next five or six months, I don't have to worry about him and his girlfriend constantly asking me to move up half the country away to stay with them for a time. That, and I have somebody I can hang out with in this middle of nowhere town I gladly call home.