Well-done, Please

An anthropological moment

Gerardo, one of the janitors at work, came into my office to empty my trash today and commented on the scented candles in the outer office.

"How can you stand that smell?" he asked.

I love that scented candle. It's a mix of cinnamon, vanilla, and something else and to me it smells like Christmas. I literally get happier when I walk by it.

But to Gerardo, it has a totally different association. He told me that when he was growing up in Mexico, flowers were burned with candles to create incense for funerals. To him, my eau du Christmas is literally the scent of death.