Brain damage

Once upon a time, the skies of Bedrock were perpetually gray, choked with churning factory smoke, car exhaust fumes and general pollution. Stick a tissue in your nose at night, and it would come out black. About once a year, we'd see blue skies and call each other up. It was really, really, really bad, one of the most polluted spots on earth.

Coal was burned as cooking fuel at most restaurants, and I lived next to one. My apartment smelled like coal, and coal dust collected on my window sills. No telling what my lungs looked like.

One day I was in a university van with some Chinese teachers, and it was one of the most polluted days I'd ever seen. One of the young women teachers inhaled deeply at the exhaust fumes coming in the window, smiled and said, "Ah, I love that smell. It reminds me of my childhood."

I was stunned. Frozen. Shocked. Speechless.

And then when I was in Bedrock a few days ago, I passed by this coal kitchen on the side of the road. Bedrock is so modern now, so this is the only coal place I encountered. And there it was. The smell. Of coal. It took me back to all those special times in Bedrock in its backward years. My memories were clear. Special.

And then I realized that like that young teacher years ago, I too loved that smell. It reminds me of the good times. It is NOT a good smell. It is only a link to those sweet memories of years gone by.

Or, as I'm sure you would think, all that coal has given us brain damage. :-)