How I Was Saved By a Bar of Soap!

Yes, its true - I was saved by my own soap!

Today had to be one of the longest, most drawn out days at work. It was the kind of day that all I wanted to do was get home and relax. I couldn't even wait for the kids to go to bed (sounds cruel doesn't it), but all I wanted to do was get home and enjoy calm, peace and quiet!

Getting to the train station, I knew right away something wasn't right. There was a huge mob lined up where the train should be; unfortunately there was no train...Oh great, now there are delays, and I'll start getting the "where are you" phonecalls from my husband soon.

The train finally shows up an eternity later (ok, it was more like 10 minutes) and everyone stampedes to get closest to the door. Finally everyone pushes in, and I grab a seat next to the wall. Usually when I get these seats, I quietly pray to myself that no one will sit next to me. This is a two-seater, and if someone sits down, they will push me into the wall of the train (there aren't even any windows near this seat).

Everyone piled into the train, and I watched the last person walk right past me - whew! I had the entire seat to myself. I put my purse on the seat next to me and started to read my NY Post (not a high quality paper, but its the tabloid of the news world - great mindless reading after a long hard day). Suddenly, I see a shadow, and look up to find this guy wanting to sit next to me. Damn, that was so close. I move my stuff over and let him sit. As soon as he sits, I knew I was doomed!

Here's a little background.....While I was pregnant with my son, I developed such sensitivities to certain odors. One of the worst offenders that would make me stick my head out of the skylight? Garlic! Just the smell of garlic would make my stomach churn. Sliced garlic for cooking was bad - but smelling it coming out of someone's pores after eating a few slices of garlic bread, or on their breath after eating at the local Italian restaurant is enough to make me want to gag on them. It has to be one of the worst smells in the world (not THE worst - that's the smell of crab legs cooking! but I digress)

Well, the guy who sat next to me REEKED of garlic. It oozed through his pores like you wouldn't believe. There was no way I could sit on this train next to him for an hour with him smelling like this. He must have rubbed cloves under his arms for deodorant. Suddenly I remembered packing one of my newest soaps that I was planning to show one of the women at work. It was one of my pieces that I had just painted and wanted to bring in to show off. It's a beautiful abstract bar that is painted with metallic colors, and is in one of my favorite scents - Rice Flower and Shea. Then the lightbulb went off.

I took the bar out of its shrinkwrap, and rolled it around in my hands (the scents are very noticeable no matter if the soap is wet or dry - its awesome!) I know I must have looked rediculous as I kept covering my nose with the soap in my hands, but I didn't care. It was really helping me calm down and get that garlic smell out of my nose - it reminded me of how you're given coffee beans to sniff while trying different perfume varieties. It cleanses the nasal passage. Well, to me, the soap did the same thing.

I was very happy when this stinky guy finally reached his stop. And, I wrapped up my soap for another day - knowing that, unfortunately, I will someday need it again. I will now always carry a bar of soap in my bag - because after all, that's exactly what saved me......