It's been said that the sense most closely associated to memory is scent. I don't know if it's true for everyone, but it's certainly true for me.
In fact, one of the things I loved most about my partner was that he always smelled like the beach - a scent I have loved my whole life and always reminds me of being a kid collecting shells with my grandpa. My parents and grandmother worked a lot, so it was typically just he and I hanging out being the cool kids.
When he passed (penniless as he had always been - a refugee from Cuba who taught himself to read and write) he left me a big box of those shells. Opening the box, the first thing that hits you is that smell. Even a decade later, it's heavy in there.
I had no idea that when 5 year-old me handed my grandpa these that he was keeping them. All of them. They were important to him; cherished little treasures from his tiny partner in crime.
Those shells, and the scent of the beach, make me feel all kinds of warm and fuzzy. The memory still warms my tiny cold xennial heart.
Reddit user sunriseoverseas asked other users to talk about their favorite scents, and it looks like I'm not the only one out here chasing a childhood memory bloodhound style by following a scent.
The amount of adorable (and awkward, people love some really unusual scents lol) in here is kind of amazing.
Either Or
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That one smell that hits you randomly and your brain kicks into this "oh my that smell is the exact same as in fall 2004 when you where on your way to your friends yaddayadda" And you just stand there like......
Either that or coconut , calms me down.
Grandma's House
My first Christmas Eve with my husband's family we spent the night and the guest room smelled EXACTLY like my grandma's house. We lost her in 2006 and then my cousin let the house go into foreclosure so I hadn't smelled that in over a decade. I cried happy tears.
I take it as a sign that I picked the right guy :)
Smell The Savings
Payless shoe store. I'd walk in, sniff and leave. Cashier probably thought I was weird. I don't give a F what you think cashier. Yeah, maybe I am fckin weird. So what?!
A Firey Christmas
That smell when you blow out a match or a birthday candle.
- -eDgAR-
That's the smell of Christmas for me, specifically going to Christmas Eve service at church, then when it's ended and everyone is putting on their coat to go home because Christmas has officially begun and they wish each other happy Christmas, the church attendants begin blowing out the candles, and THAT smell for me is Christmas.
Fresh Water
Fresh rain. inhales deeply
Humans are hyper sensitive to it as a way to find fresh water. That's probably why we like it so much
Puppyfeet
My dog's paws. My wife thinks it's disgusting but I just like the way they smell!
You are not alone, friend. It's a Bugles/corn chip smell that is actually closer to pandan, if you've ever smelled that.
A lot of people sniff the dog paw.
Fun fact: it's caused by bacteria and when dogs dig their paws into the ground, they are doing so to transmit their odor.
Motocross
Ever since I was a kid I loved the smell of gasoline. Also if you've ever been to a motocross event, or like X Games etc with dirt bikes, the smell of motorbikes and dirt is borderline sexual.
Trying Not To Judge This One
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Urinal cake, because it reminds me of those primitive bathroom facilities that they have at campgrounds, which I associate with camping, which I enjoy.
Chlorine
Chlorine. Toward the end of my pregnancy I craved that scent so bad. I obviously didn't inhale it or anything but I remember sitting in the pool a few weeks before giving birth and the smell was so strong and sooo good. I told my husband about it and he thought I was weird AF.
Even now I love it.
Charlotte
Once a week on a Tuesday I work until 7pm so get a later bus and on the same bus was a girl who was travelling to the hospital for treatment for cancer. One evening we started talking and then for about 6 months we would sit next to each other and talk. We'd tell each other what music we were currently into or what book we were reading or what video game we were playing. She smelled of mangoes and strawberry. I ended up finding out where she got it and buying my daughter some for her birthday. (The body shop)
I haven't seen her on the bus now for 3 months. I hope she is okay but I don't think so as she had stage four lung cancer.
Every time I smell mangoes and Strawberries I think of Charlotte and her big smile when I introduced her to a new band or told her about a book.
Feels Because Of Felt
My grandma passed away the week I graduated high school, back in 2005. One of the things my dad gave me that belonged to her was a jewelry box...covered in seashells, but lined with felt. The first time I opened it, I immediately began to bawl. The felt lining had grabbed that perfect scent of grandma's house/perfume. I don't use the jewelry box at all. In fact, I keep it closed as often as possible. But a few times a year, especially when I'm missing her, I open the jewelry box just a crack, and stick my nose in there just to smell her again. And once a year, usually around the holidays, I take it to my parents' house so my dad can smell it and be flooded with memories of his mom.
15 years later, and it still smells like her.
Try not to follow the bad advice given here, because you don't want to get the results that these guys did.
U/Duckerton375 asked: What's the worst advice someone ever gave you, but you still followed?
The workplace can bring a cornucopia of terrible advice. Don’t follow these unless you want to get fired.
Bad jobs are usually not worth it.
Stick with a job no matter how bad it is. I stayed with a terrible job working retail, dealing with horrible customers and sexual harassment. I was told I wouldn't find anything better.
"No, no, you misunderstand. I said you wouldn't find anything better at making you feel like complete garbage."
This gets really creepy really fast.
frustrated workplace GIFGiphy"After you put in a job application, you need to call them at least once a day every day until they hire you."
Note: this did not get me hired. It got me called out by the HR person I was calling and forbidden to ever contact their facility again.
I work for a law firm that employees over 1500 people in the home office alone. Once I received a call from the building security saying, "Insert Name is here to speak with the owner." Well we are run by a committee so that's odd. Found out they just applied for a job and wanted to talk directly to the person that would potentially hire them. Told him the firm will contact them to schedule an interview. They refused to leave without "talking to the owner." Had security escort them out of the building.
This is absolutely not true.
"Sleep is for people who do not want success" great words from my uncle, it almost killed me.
Now I may be oversleeping.
Interpersonal relationships are also a big breeding ground for terrible advice. Don’t listen to any of these.
Heartbreaking.
My father always tought me and my brother that "having friends is bad and in the end they will never be there for you" so everytime I told my father about my friends he would get kinda mad and give me the advice to stop talking to them.
Now I am afraid of people and have several trust issues, thanks dad.
This won’t end well.
A Christmas Story GIF by filmeditorGiphyIn the fifth grade my teacher was talking about bullying, then she said "if anyone tries to bully you just agree with them." So the next time I got bullied I agreed with the bully and they bullied me more.
Dude one time I saw an anti bullying video that told the victims to just BE NICE TO THE BULLY. Like the bully was hurling insults and the victim was smiling and complimenting him. My first thought was about how much I hated the mere thought that this would work. My second thought was of how the people who came up with that method had clearly never been bullied.
Oof.
When I met my now wife at the age of 19, one of my coworkers said that it's very important to start at the bottom with presents and work your way up, she still has the socks I gave her on our first anniversary on the wall over our bed as a reminder...
I'm still trying to teach my boyfriend about good presents and bad presents. Biscuits from the supermarket = bad present. Cheap unbranded laptop battery from China as my only present = bad present (and only lasted 2 months). Anything off my 7-page wishlist = good present. It's literally a list of things I want to receive as presents.
Can tell you from experience that this is a bad idea.
Had a falling out with some friends. My husband recommended I reach out to an old friend who ghosted me suddenly in a manner that induced some pretty severe abandonment trauma. Went for it anyways because "it's been so long, surely they changed". Am now experiencing the same things as last time.
When you follow bad advice, it can lead to mistakes that you just can’t come back from.
Buying a house is tricky.
for sale dancing GIF by Lisa VertudachesGiphy"Buy a home now before the prices go up!" -my FIL in 2006.
We bought in 2007 and paid $259,500 for our 1,300 sq ft house (we really couldn't afford it and had an 80/20 so we had 8% interest for one loan and 6% on the other) and in 2008 it was worth $97,000 so refinancing wasn't even an option. We watched all of our neighbors walk away or get foreclosed on but we kept paying our bills and as of this very moment our house is worth $462,000. I'm so happy we stuck it out, we both worked our @sses off and the house will be paid off in 2 years.
It worked out for us, it's a horrible idea. Especially since 1300 sq ft houses are $460+k
My heartbreaks for future generations, I honestly don't know how people are going to afford housing in the future.
It’s there for a reason.
"Never apply for any government assistance."
Cue years of suffering trying to work full-time with a painful disability. Quit a particularly terrible job, and wanted to apply for food aid until I could find another gig; a friend with lots of DHS experience recommended I apply for Social Security "just to get in the system." Turns out my disability was bad enough to get accepted the first time, which I wasn't expecting. Really could've used that support, oh, the 30+ previous years of my life.
Credit is important to have.
I was told to not get a credit card until after college. I was super fortunate to have my college paid for so I had no loans, car paid in cash, no credit card or anything to start building credit. Found myself out in the world at 22 years old with a credit score of 0.
So while a lot of this bad advice came from trusted people, oftentimes they were too misinformed to give that advice in the first place. Don't trust the word of one person--do your research, and make decisions for yourself.
It'll be way better in the long run