We have a local grocery store chain here in Seattle, called Thriftway (I assume they’re local; I’ve never seen them elsewhere). Like all of these chains these days, they have a fairly decent lunch counter with pre-made sandwiches, and hot soups. We’ve both gotten to really like these little baguette sandwiches, with ham and brie cheese, that are pretty cheap. That’s all the sandwich is–usually honeyed ham, some brie, some bread. They’re amazingly tasty and filling. Well, yesterday I go to Thriftway to get us lunch. As I’m standing in the checkout line, the cashier and I both sort of caught a whiff of… something. Was it a rotten scent? We couldn’t quite place it, and it seemed to disperse.
Literally, at the same time, we noticed it. We looked around, couldn’t spot it, and went on with our business when it faded. In the parking lot, putting the bags of groceries in the trunk, I smelled it again, and looked around, but couldn’t place it. I figured some animal had died somewhere nearby. Perhaps on the roof of the store? I shrugged and drove home. When I got back inside, and set out our lunch on the coffee table, to try to catch up on our growing Tivo archive while we ate, I smelled it again.
“Honey, do you smell that?” I asked Andi.
“Did you step in something? Check your shoes,” she said, wrinkling her nose. My shoes were clean.
I looked around, at the door, at Mojo, our cat, who stared back at me in confusion. The smell then faded. I unwrapped the sandwich and took a small bite, and started working on my soup–I’m a weirdo, and usually eat a sandwich or cheeseburger last, always eating my side salad, French fries, soup, or whatever else is at hand first. The smell immediately hit us both again, and Andi unwrapped her sandwich–they were the source of the horrible stench. I figure it was the brie somehow, that went bad, but the sandwiches were date-stamped for the day I bought them. I don’t think I’ve ever had a stinky sandwich before. We pitched them both in the garbage.
The soup was good, though.
