So, have you heard of the up and coming oPhone?  This new technology will allow users to send odors to their friends in the same way they currently send text messages.  When I first heard of this, I thought of the business applications—what a great incentive to get someone to come into your store and buy a loaf of homemade bread!  Not surprisingly, when I brought this up in class, the guys’ first thought was to send a fart message.  Smell communication may not be something we think about every day, but imagine the bank of memories we have that are connected to smell.  That first scent of fresh air after a spring rain.  The smell of Grandma’s house, or Dad’s cologne.  I met a family in Nome, AK one summer and their diet included a lot of fish, so they smelled like—you got it—flounder!  Maybe the oPhone will be a flash in the pan, time will tell.  But, this could also be extraordinary!  I imagine a mass of odorous messages filling my classroom as the clock ticks toward noon—a message from students telling me it’s time to wrap things up to hit the hamburger stand.  I smell fun….with a little mischief.

Terry Nelson is a Speech Instructor and the Forensics Coach at Northeast Community College and enjoys the craft of writing in her spare time.