Permanent damage

I went op-shopping (second hand shopping, for non-Aussies) with my friend Anna today. We started out at the Salvo's (Salvation Army, for non-Aussies) just up the street from our house. I did well, managed to come out with only a pair of 50c kitchen tongs. For once they didn't have any marvellous pottery that I didn't feel I could live without, so on the whole a very succesful visit.

However, the lasting memory from the Salvo's today is a lingering stench that seems to have taken up residence in my nostrils. We had to share the store with an unfortunate elderly lady with an obvious incontinence issue and, judging from the smell, no laundry facilities. Imagine that pungent smell of urine you sometimes find in pedestrian tunnels or hidden doorways in inner cities. Times ten. It was a definite "breathe through your nose!" situation. Even after the woman had left the store, people who walked in were sniffing the air and wrinkling their noses. I'm a little worried that my nose is permanently damaged since I was actually standing right next to the source at one point.

My ever resourceful friend Anna purchased a can of scented room spray and marched around the store like a general, can held high, and deodorised the entire establishment as a favour to the shop attendant before we left.