What's better than the real thing? In
our increasingly virtual world, the fake thing, of
course.
There are people in this world who torture others for pleasure.
These people, as you know, are called software programmers. But in
all the devious schemes they've come up with over the years, none
is quite so diabolical as this.
The enticing fragrance of
chocolate chips baking in the oven, but
no actual cookies. The homey aroma of cheeseburgers sizzling in the
frying pan, but no real burgers. The pungent stench of sauerkraut
in the pot, but no … well, actually, I haven't read anything about
sauerkraut. But I think you catch my drift. I'm talking about all
sizzle and no steak. I'm talking about really no there there. I'm
talking about virtual scents.
Personally, I wouldn't mind doing something with
food other than
eating it if that something was throwing it. Nothing beats a good
food fight, unless, of course, you've been in a bathtub sometime
during your adult life with at least two members of the opposite
sex. But we're not talking about food fights, nor, for that matter,
about lathering up, beginning at the toes, and continuing slowly up
the legs until … well, never mind, because, as I said, we're not
talking about that. What we're talking about is ambience.
What possible reason would I have for wanting my house to smell
like, say, a pot roast when I am not actually cooking a pot roast?
To salivate over something I'm not going to enjoy? That strikes me
as akin to a hologram of a lingerie-clad
Cameron Diaz appearing in
every room I enter. It'd just drive me crazy.
Who would create such a technology? Out-of- work POW camp guards?
Unemployed Mafia torturer guys? I'll tell you who. Sadists, that's
who, aka college professors.