A Stinky Situation

Saturday morning I got in my car and it stunk like the inside of a high school boy’s locker room.


Immediately I searched the interior for whatever was causing the smell. When I found nothing I opened the windows and the sun roof. I turned on the fan and circulated lots of air through the cabin. I even turned the air conditioner on briefly and then off again hoping to blow out any excess Freon that might be causing the stench. No matter what I did, the smell lingered.

My mind raced wondering what could be producing such rankness. All kinds of things presented themselves as culprits. Maybe one of my windows was leaking and there was mildew growing. Or perhaps my sweaty body (I'm a REAL sweat hog) had dripped all over the seat cushions after Cardio Dance class on Friday and the odor took over the car as it baked in the sun. Nothing really made sense or seemed to be responsible for the magnitude of the stinky-ness that had infiltrated my vehicle.

When the smell was still there the next morning, I mentioned it to the handsome hubby. His response was immediate, “So what did you leave in there?” Placed on the defensive and feeling accused of stupidity, I barked back with sarcasm, “Oh, nothing except that dead fish. Do you think that would make it smell bad in there?” How dare he insinuate that I hadn’t thought to look for something causing the odor! How dare he think that I would be negligent enough to leave an odor producing item in the car and then not expect it to smell! What am I some kind of moron?

Then I remembered that I keep a blanket in the trunk. I figured out that the blanket must have been put back in the trunk wet after its last use and the mildew was causing the odor. Since he was on his way outside, I asked if he would grab the blanket so that I could throw it into the washing machine. He came back inside not two minutes later with both the blanket and the REAL offender.

Apparently, when I went to the grocery store on WEDNESDAY, a package of chicken breasts fell out of my grocery bag. That (now grayish purple) chicken had caused the entire problem. The blanket, by the way, was so rank that it made my washing machine smell after I ran it through a cycle.  Ummm, yuck.

So, not only are we down a dinner for this week. But it turns out that I am in fact the kind of negligent moron that leaves an odor producing item in a car and expects it not to smell.

Whoopsy doodles.