Smells in San Franisco

Smells

As I exit the 10 UN building and step onto Market, the bleach-cleaned smells of the classroom walls leave my nose. Of course a million other scents take it’s place: The heavy, spicy smell of a man begging for change; the sour, acidic scent of the disinfected fountain water; the charred, dusty smell of exhaust fluttering by.

I make my way down the sidewalk and into the farmer’s market. The sweet aroma of a baker’s stand fills my nose, only to be replaced a second later by the equally pleasant scent of antiques smelling of history and love. But then a rival smell begins to enter my nose. Slowly at first, creeping in like a morning fog. The sickening stench of the fish stand overwhelms all other smells in the vicinity.

The salty, pungent aroma of the dead fish sweeps across me in waves, some more intense and nauseating than the others. The smells