Four days after returning from Massachusetts, I left New Jersey en route to Virginia for a work related assignment with a client. Although the trip’s intention was not for fun, I made sure to enjoy the experience of traveling to a new state. The drive to Virginia was great but the drive back was long and rough because of the traffic associated with the Pope’s appearance in the Washington DC area.
The worst part of the trip was when I stopped to refuel at an Exxon gas station. I got out of the car, lifted the fuel hose to stick it into my gas tank and a few ounces of gas residue dripped onto my pants. I started smelling like a pyromaniac and the “sweet savor” of 93 octane fuel embedded itself into my slacks.
As my last precautionary measure to avoid any other hiccups in the drive back home, I went to use the public bathroom in the Exxon. As soon as I entered the bathroom my eyes began to water from the strong stench that smelled like a mix of excretion, train smoke, and vinegar. After I left the bathroom, the smell was still stuck in my nose and I kept having weird flashbacks of the nightmare-riffic bathroom. The combination of the bathroom’s smell and the smell of my gas-pants made me want to vomit, and I had to live with it for 6 hours.
When I got home, I passed out in my room until 10am the next day. I didn’t get the smell out of my nose until yesterday–13 days later.