This is one of those things that falls under the “is it just me?” line of thinking. I am seriously nauseated by the smell of exhaust. I don’t want to sound like a pansy here, I really can be around a car just fine and sitting in traffic in my convertible doesn’t make me green in the face, but when there is a build up of exhaust for whatever reason, I really start to get sick to my stomach.
I do come by this weakness honestly…weak stomachs run in my family. I love roller coasters, but I often try various remedies to get keep motion sickness at bay. I used to not have a chance at them, but now I typically go ahead and take on the ride, then spend the next hour paying for it. Oh well, the price of fun.
Exhaust though has one of those unique ways of just turning my stomach into knots and bringing on that extra saliva in the mouth preparatory of an upcoming expulsion of the previous meal. Not all exhaust is equal either; diesel wins the contest hands down for having the most nauseating effect. I have never been a fan of diesel trucks for this reason (among others), though current trucks have gotten much better.
I think of this because the other day the construction of a new building directly next to my office has an excavator idling his backhoe right next to our back door during his break. Yep, for the 15 minutes, he sat there, the exhaust density mushroomed into a cloud I walked right into without realizing what I was getting into as I left the office. I wanted to walk over, open his door and turn off his machine for him. All waste and environmental considerations aside, idling that machine right next to an occupied office building were far less than considerate. Our air conditioning units were all of 20 feet away from his chosen spot of relaxation. Thanks a lot, buddy.
So, with my genetic weakness, you will rarely see me letting a car idle in the garage or find me standing near a vehicle running for any period of time if I can avoid it. Not only do I not need that in my lungs, I really don’t need to feel like I am going to lose my lunch either.
I hate to think of the buildup of all that exhaust in our atmosphere, but that is for another day.
