Am i over reacting?!


Question: my next door neigbours are african and they eat different food to most of us, i grant that, nothing against africans or their taste in food, but am i over reacting to the smell of fried onions coming through the walls?
it smells disgusting and they seem to fry onoins everyday and it's that strong that i can smell it through my living room wall and YES the wall is made from breeze block and bricks.
am i over reacting?


Answers: my next door neigbours are african and they eat different food to most of us, i grant that, nothing against africans or their taste in food, but am i over reacting to the smell of fried onions coming through the walls?
it smells disgusting and they seem to fry onoins everyday and it's that strong that i can smell it through my living room wall and YES the wall is made from breeze block and bricks.
am i over reacting?

No. You would be over reacting if you went there and threw their fried onions at them.

I suppose you could be over reacting but you like what you like or in this case dislike what you dislike. Not sure what you can do about it .Maybe use some sort of air freshening device like one of those plug in things at that time of day?

You're totally over-reacting.

Fried onions is one of the best smells ever.

Ok, that wasn't serious, this clearly matters to you.

Being serious, no, i don't. smells are serious business - i've even heard that the US military is experimenting with them as a means of "coercive information gathering", or whatever euphemism they use for torture these days.

On the other hand, you can't really dictate what people can or can't cook.

I'd have a word with them and see if you can come to some sort of solution / compromise. Though that might consist of lots of air freshener / incence sticks for you...

not really. they probily dont cook them ALL the time?
just dont go actin crazy

try yoga. It will help you forget yourself and your preferences. Or try doing something kind for your neighbors. Sure it may smell bad, but at least you'll have warmer feelings towards them.

I'd be major pissed off, take a dump on their doorstep.

you are not over reacting. you are just expressing your personalised view on the smell of fried onions

Your not over-reacting. It's a form of pollution. Damn, those neighbours of yours must cry a lot, or have eyes of steel, like robots. African robots. African, onion-eating, robots. Now I'm scared.

No i don't think you are over reacting, but the problem is how are you going to deal with it? You should try asking your neighbours if there is an alternative to fried onions they could use. Although i am sure that if you sensitively broach the subject of their way of cooking you will probably find that they did not realise that it was upsetting you so much. If they realise that you can actually smell it in your house then they probably would be quite upset by this as I'm sure they wouldn't want to offend you in any way unknowingly. Why not ask them round to your house for dinner and cook them something special and then broach the subject with them. Most people do not intentionally upset others, especially in this way and would probably be more than happy to change the way they cook something or how frequently they cook something.

I'm afraid you are the one at fault..... If you don't like the smell of fried onions that's tough.. Maybe they don't like the smell of your cooking as well.... We all have to live.... Its your problem... Try using air fresheners or plug ins. That might help..

Yes, to your last question. I only have to fry some onions and Himself will think the following meal is delicious, no matter what I serve up! Go figure!

I once suffered a similar reaction to you, when I was really very ill and developed a temporary "onion intolerance". Himself was cooking (whilst I was bedbound) and naturally fried onions... The smell alone made me want to throw up and the food... Well, I lost several kilos in a very short time indeed!! This (thankfully) was a transitory situation and I can now manage onions again, although I do still have "tricky" days when I seem to avoid them... If you have suddenly developed an intolerance for no reason, you may like to have a health check... This onion-adversity could just be a symptom of an underlying illness, although your doctor will think you mad for saying so!

Otherwise, your problem is probably that you have been adversely "sensitised" to the smell fried onions in some way... This could be because they made you sick once or they are associated with other bad experience/s... Whatever. "Sensitisation" (as I call it) means that you are much, much more aware of the smell than other people are, so in that respect you are "over reacting" compared to the normal Joe Soap. Even if you can smell the onions "all the time", is an indication, because most people become immune to even a really strong smell if exposed to it for more than 10 or 15 minutes.

But this ultra-sensitivity is a very, very difficult problem to get around though... I know, because as an ex-smoker, I have the same problem with cigarette smoke. I am so sensitive to it, I have been unable to sleep in hotel rooms where people have smoked in the past and can still smell smoke in pubs even though smoking has been banned for weeks now. (This BTW accounts for ex-smokers being far more intolerant of smokers than any non-smoker will ever be).

So the only solution is to avoid the smell... You will either need to move house or ask your neighbours to install an extractor fan which is pointed well away from your space. Sorry, but I do not see any alternative. Once you are "ultra-sensitive" there is no known cure AFAIK.

Sounds like a tricky situation.
Maybe invite them round to your house, to see if they realise?
Or go out somewhere, while they are cooking. :]

Have you told them it bothers you? If they are nice people, they may make a concession or two for you. It is easier to vent to other people than to go directly to the source, but the people you tell might put their own twist on your ranting. It is better if you tell them yourself than if they hear it through the grapevine. If they hear that you don't like the way their cooking smells, they will be less likely to change their ways because they will think you have been gossiping about them.
If you do approach them, leave race or national origin out of the conversation. You don't need to go there.

I luv to use onions in my cooking, so yes you're over reacting and don't move next to my house cuz you might get hungry.

I would totally understand if they were playing their music too loud or had pets unleashed and running around the neighborhood, but when it comes to food that is hard to address.

If a neighbor didn't like the smell of beef or charcoal, or potatoes when cooked, would you stop eating it? Food is too basic to truly address it.

I would not even know how one could temper or reduce the aroma (or in your case, odor). I am very sorry that you have to experience that. You may want to talk to them and see if they could find a way to work with you on it. But I honestly don't see how this one might work out for you.





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