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Odor battle: Sriracha vs Irwindale

Underseer

Underseer

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http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/...acha-public-nuisance-20140226,0,5361264.story

As much as I am a fan of Sriracha (by which I mean I would be despondent if it disappeared from store shelves even temporarily), I have to side with the residents of Irwindale on this one.

Long, long ago, I used to take ridiculously long midnight strolls through the western suburbs of Chicago. During my regular route, there was a stretch of a few hundred yards through a residential area that involved a rather intense smell of bubblegum (I never did find the source of that smell, but I assume there had to be a small factory of some sort nearby). As I rather like the smell of bubblegum, I rather looked forward to this part of my walk, but I always wondered what it would be like to live in one of those houses and be subjected to that smell all day long every day every year.

It's one thing to be subjected to a strong smell, but quite another to be subjected to a smell all the time in your own home. Even if you like the smell, I have to imagine it would negatively affect your quality of life.
 
Smell complaints are strange things. Of all the senses, nothing is more subjective than smells, and perception of smells. A lot of people are very suggestible and once they take the suggestion, nothing can sway them.

I once had a vintage clothing store in a strip mall. All the clothes were cleaned before going on the floor. I installed a gas dryer in the work room, which required me to open a 12 inch long pipe. A volume of gas equal to a half inch diameter, 1 foot long cylinder escaped. I was working on the new pipes when the shopping center maintenance man came in. The ladies in the quick loan office, three doors down, complained about a gas smell. I told him about the dryer and he was happy. I kept working, but discovered the fitting at the dryer was the wrong size. This meant a trip to the hardware store. When I come back, there is a firetruck in the parking lot. "This is great," I think, "I'm doing bootleg gas pipe plumbing and now the fire department is here."

I hurried up and finished the job. I leak tested all the joints with soapy water and then fired up the dryer. All looked good.

The maintenance came back. I waited to hear his report. He told the loan ladies about the dryer, but they insisted the smell was too strong for that. It had to be a leak. They called the fire department, who came with their gas detectors. A thorough sweep of the building found no gas. There was an auto-repair shop on the far end of the building. A mechanic was washing parts in a tub of gasoline. The shop was issued a citation and the loan ladies were satisfied the source of the smell was found. The maintenance man and I both knew there is no way to confuse natural gas and gasoline, for reasons relating to chemistry, but also knew to leave well enough alone.
 
Bronzeage said:
Smell complaints are strange things. Of all the senses, nothing is more subjective than smells, and perception of smells. A lot of people are very suggestible and once they take the suggestion, nothing can sway them.
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I think any smell would be annoying after awhile if you're close enough to the source. Then again, if you're getting a paycheck (also very suggestible), I bet you wouldn't have a problem with it.
Sriracha Hot Sauce has quite a following. Hopefully this will not be a financial burden for Huy Fong Foods.

When I was a kid, my father and I would drive by the Wonder Bread Bakery each weekday when we went to pick up my mother from work. That never got old.
 
There are truly thousands of examples of hysterical reactions from large groups of people which started because one person felt ill and thought it was something in the air. It's probably the most common form of mass hysteria.
 
TV and credit cards said:
I think any smell would be annoying after awhile if you're close enough to the source. Then again, if you're getting a paycheck (also very suggestible), I bet you wouldn't have a problem with it.
Sriracha Hot Sauce has quite a following. Hopefully this will not be a financial burden for Huy Fong Foods.

When I was a kid, my father and I would drive by the Wonder Bread Bakery each weekday when we went to pick up my mother from work. That never got old.
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I agree completely. Like I said, I rather like the smell of bubblegum, but if I lived next to whatever it was making that smell, I could easily imagine getting sick of it very quickly.
 
The question becomes, how much is a person obligated to do, in order to sustain his neighbor's quality of life? If my neighbor is allergic to pollen, can I be compelled to chop down my ligustrums? This kind of complaint is usually heard when housing developments move into farm country. If the livestock does not offend someone's sense of smell, the chemical fertilizers will. If someone lived by a railroad track, could they sue the rail company for offensive noise?
 
Bronzeage said:
The question becomes, how much is a person obligated to do, in order to sustain his neighbor's quality of life? If my neighbor is allergic to pollen, can I be compelled to chop down my ligustrums? This kind of complaint is usually heard when housing developments move into farm country. If the livestock does not offend someone's sense of smell, the chemical fertilizers will. If someone lived by a railroad track, could they sue the rail company for offensive noise?
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I think most people would become annoyed at strong smells in and around their homes regardless of what the smell is. Yes, farms have nasty smells, but if you move to a farm you expect it and further, if you live in a farm, you're the one whose livelihood is generating the smells. I think it's a little different if you have a home in a residential area.

They aren't looking to close down the factory, they're just asking that the factory take steps to reduce the smell.
 
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