Quinn Minute – Middle school smells

by Rix Quinn

I’m not sure I had much sense of smell until sixth grade. The only aroma I remember before that was dinner rolls in the elementary cafeteria.

But the junior high was different. For the first time, many girls started wearing perfume, and guys started splashing on aftershave.

The aura in a small classroom was astounding. Imagine walking into a flower garden and inhaling the essence of spring mixed with a saddle and cheese.

The school hallway scents when you entered the building were variable. What you sniffed depended on what door you entered.

If you entered through the biology room, you smelled alcohol or formaldehyde. If you came in through the gymnasium, you sniffed either laundry detergent or dirty socks…depending if the giant washer was off or on.

Most kids chose the lunchroom entrance. Those fragrances changed depending on the day of the week. The older the meat supply, the odder the smells.

For example, let’s say the meat of the week was turkey. On Monday, we smelled appetizing sliced turkey and dressing.

On Tuesday, the entrée was turkey and gravy, and on Wednesday, the daily special was turkey casserole.

On Thursday, there were two selections: turkey soup or fried turkey slices with special sauce. I never asked what the special sauce was, but I ate it.

But Friday was scary. That’s when the special became Turkey Surprise. I won’t say what the surprise was, but I got surprised twice.

That’s when I invented my own new Friday ritual:  sandwich-from-home.