I was trying to put my finger on what the odor reminded me of earlier this afternoon— knew it was some like hyper specific scent memory, but couldn’t place it. Been driving me crazy (though better to focus on that than think too much about how our brain cells are doing after marinating in this all day).

Your comment finally brought it to the surface for me: the utility sink in my middle school art classroom. Base notes of knockoff Crayola tempera and acrylic paint— the water-based, washable kinds that come in bulk bottles— spattered in various stages from watered down to wet to drying to caked on. Heart notes of hard water, cheap brown paper hand towels, and damp paintbrushes that have never once gotten the chance to fully dry. Top notes of heated plastic (from rinsing the plastic cups we used to mix paint with that scalding-ass water) and that kinda pearlescent pink antibacterial liquid hand soap. Somewhere, a trace of Elmer’s glue and a whiff of chlorine.

My SO said it reminded him of opening a box full of inflatable beach balls.