Among the more interesting trivia about me is the fact that I can't smell. I don't know the cause, but I have been missing out on olifactory indulgences for as long as I can recall. I tell people about this early on while getting to know them - especially if they come into my house and I feel the need to explain away potential pet or housekeeping-related odors.
I have a well-rehearsed conversation about this. Most people ask the same questions and have the same reactions. I usually sum it all up with, "well, if I had to pick a birth defect, that's the one to have!". Because there's not much of an impact on my life that can't be addressed by freshness dating, routine hygene and smoke detectors
But apparently, I'm being too flip! Accroding to this site, I have a disability! My quality of life is ruined! I could perish in flames! I've been a candidate for harassment and discrimination without even knowing it! Worse, I could catch anorexia! Apparently, because I don't enjoy food like others do, I'll forget to eat until I develop an eating disorder. That's actually true - I do forget to eat a lot. The good news is that I have managed to pick up on other hunger clues to avoid shrinking down to 67 pounds.
The good news is that I can pawn off a host of other personality quirks on my disorder. According to the same dubious source:
“There is a high correlation between having anosmia and having orbito-frontal brain injury, the form of brain injury which is associated with dysexecutive syndrome (inability to complete planned activity), emotional lability (disruptive mood swings), impulsive behavior and failure to adapt behavior to the lessons of experience.”
And all along, I thought it was just bad time management.
What's the point of being an American if you can't turn personal trivia into a disability and then use that disability to justify all your other shortcomings?
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