Pork and Beans Scent Mystery

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Warning: If you love Pork and Beans, do not read this article. Doing so might change your perception on this food. I am not liable for such damage incurred after reading this. You have been warned, continue if you have a strong gut feeling. 

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I am a very forthright person. I say harsh truths right in front of people's face especially if we are tight. I rarely do it to acquaintances except when I intend to malign. Even at a tender age I was frank, but it was due to my naivety.

I can still remember the funniest insult I said to my classmate. It wasn't funny until just years ago when I discovered that it was an unintentional insult.

Every lunch time we eat together with other classmates or with the person who brings our lunch (i.e. mother, aunt, nursemaid, etc.). The smell of our lunch would sometimes stick to our uniform that you can guess what we ate. Being very observant, I couldn't help but notice that my classmate would most frequently have pork and beans for lunch. She usually eats with her cousin and uncle which was quite away from our eating group.

I was accustomed to what she eats for lunch. Despite of being not able to know what she had for lunch, I would heavily rely on my familiarity with her, supported by my smelling ability to guess what she had for lunch. It was like my very own guessing game after having lunch while waiting for class to start at 1:30 PM. I am familiar with the smell of pork and beans so I confidently proclaim that it was her lunch whenever the smell of it gets stuck to her uniform.

One time after having lunch, she approached me by accident. I started with my guessing game as usual. Without hesitation I said that her lunch was pork and beans. She said that I was wrong and declared what her lunch was. I was quite shocked for I never had any mistake in guessing that she did have pork and beans, especially if it was really her lunch. I thought that she was lying, but her cousin confirmed that her statements were true. In my mind I knew that I was right, I could even smell pork and beans from her. I was perplexed of the errors of my judgement. I was thinking that they may be making fun of me. From that moment onward, "Pork and Beans Scent Mystery" was born.

Not until I solved it after almost 10 years, I guess. I found the same pork and beans smell from another person when I was in my teenage years. My discovery was very disturbing that I was left in awe. The pork and beans scent was actually body odor. The flashback of the birth of the "Pork and Beans Mystery" came to me. All the while I thought my classmate ate pork and beans for lunch, it was merely her body odor. Seriously, why would she have body odor at age 10 (if I remember)?

Ever since my pork and beans mystery was solved I never wanted to smell the said food. Its smell gave me the permanent linkage with body odor. Thinking of it makes me want to puke. Not to mention having pork and beans for lunch or dinner grosses me out! 

I should have left the mystery unsolved. It did leave a great damage to me, adding one more to my list of "food that I don't want to eat".