Smelling salts

Have you ever wondered what people smelt like in the olden days? Back in the day where showers weren't invented yet. When people thought dirt was healthy. Don't! Wonder I mean. I can tell you exactly how they smell.

Today as I was on train-replacement-service (a fancy term for us busdrivers being stuck doing the railroads' job), a family entered my coach and sat down in the two front seats. Mother was sitting behind me. Father and Son on the other side. They didn't smell. They reeked! A pungeant odour that made me want to throw up. As if the last time they had felt a drop of water on their naked bodies had been last Christmas. And even then they must have forgotten the soap!

I had to open my window and breathe through my mouth just to keep me from fainting! When they finally got off at the other end of the line, several people who had sat behind them were nearly gasping for air as well! They were certainly glad to be out in the fresh air again.

The last trip of the day was better. A young man who probably never would have Charlotte and Bas living in his coat, but at least it was a freshish sort of smell. I could stand it for half an hour. Without having to open the window...