Karma Is Not Nice

For the past few Sundays when I arrive at mass and take my usual seat, there is a woman who must pour on the perfume. I find the smell offensive because to me it smells like a mosquito repellent or maybe DDT. I find myself thinking I would love to move but I do not want to hurt her feelings. One day, I was sitting in my spot when suddenly I got a whiff of the atrocious smelling perfume. I looked around and she was about six yards away and heading to her spot near me. My thought was: Doesn't she know how bad her perfume smells and the strength of the odor?

Since I am in church I try to not think about how upset the perfumed woman makes me. I try to do what my mother used to tell me, "If something bothers you, offer it up to God."

A year ago a friend gave me a bottle of oil with a pleasant aroma. I placed the six sticks into the oil and for almost a year I would get a whiff of the aroma. It was not over powering but a pleasant smell.
On Saturday I was at a store and happened to find some oils with the sticks and seeing one marked Gardenia, I thought I would purchase it. After all, I used to love the Gardenia smell and used the perfume for years.

When I got home I opened the box, placed the sticks in the oil and was ready to smell Gardenia. It smelled like DDT and instantly I remembered my thoughts about the lady and her perfume. This was surely Karma because every time I walk past my bathroom, I smell the awful smell. Maybe if I had not been so critical of the lady at church, my recently purchased oil would have smelled like Gardenias!

Here is my plan for my recently purchased oil. First I will dump the Gardenia oil, buy a bottle of refillable oil with the name of Lavender (because that is what my gift is labeled) and then maybe I will enjoy a pleasing smell. I am also finding another place to sit when I go to church. I'd say that my Karma problem will be solved!

"A group of scientists wanted to find

the most effective mosquito repellents,

so they tested ten substances

including standbys like DEET,

as well as random choices like

Victoria's Secret perfume Bombshell.

Turns out the perfume is

almost as good as DEET."

Annalee Newitz

Note:  On June 14, 2017, I returned to the store and purchased another bottle with sticks labeled pineapple-coconut and now when I walk past the bathroom I am filled with memories of warm and sunny beaches. What an improvement over that over powering smell of DDT!