Last night was awful, as I was overwhelmed by the tangy and pungent aroma of the dish my brother was cooking. I usually go to bed around 9 p.m., since I’m older, have a heart condition, and need to rest in a peaceful environment. Unfortunately, he finishes work at 7 p.m., gets home around 7:15, and sometimes starts cooking one of his specialty meals around 7:30 or even closer to 8, from a ready-to-cook box delivered earlier in the day. The problem is that for some reason, the very strong smell seemed to linger all night and even into today, which drove me up the wall because I simply cannot relax when I sense something like this. For regular meals it’s usually fine, as the smell dies down within a reasonable time after cooking. I even opened my bedroom windows as wide as possible, which helped, but I could still smell it enough to cause significant stress, and it worried me because I have heart failure and don’t need undue stress. I even used a face mask from a box I originally purchased during the COVID crisis, which helped somewhat, but I still felt stressed because it seemed I was being forced to do something unnatural.
Anyway, I was restless most of the night and decided to have a serious talk with my brother. He was very understanding and promised he would avoid cooking at that hour again, at least not one of those exotic meals. He suggested that in the future he could cook much earlier when I’m up, which seems reasonable, but it depends on how long the smell lingers, as I don’t want to go to bed with a pungent aroma in the air. I think the main issue was the change in routine that unsettled me. Normally, he comes home from work, has a quick meal, and goes to bed early to wake up at 6 a.m., and I’m used to that. This time, though, it was an unexpected event, and the particular dish was overwhelming for me. It might have been more tolerable if I’d been up and about, but lying in bed made it worse because you want to relax and rest but feel like you’re not being allowed to. I also want to clarify that I’ve never been diagnosed as autistic, so maybe it’s not autism that caused this but some other kind of issue—I really can’t be sure. The ironic thing is that my brother says he has a poor sense of smell so can't really appreciate my difficulties.
Anyway, it's good to get it off my chest.
