MY ANOSMATIC LIFE

Have you ever lived on a lower floor under a tenant who made so much noise it made you consider moving? What about sleeping with headphones on at night without the ability to smell? Well, this is my experience right now. For the past several months, I have been awakened at 11 pm, 2 am, 3 am, 5 am…various hours…you get the gist.

Yes, I’ve tried a couple of things.

1. Sleep with noise-canceling headphones at night, which is not safe.
2. I’ve made multiple noise complaints because there’s a rule against making noise after 10 pm.
3. I’ve hit the ceiling with my broom but do not recommend it.

Let’s focus on number #1. Confession: I’m not a deep sleeper. I hear almost EVERYTHING unless I’m exhausted and passed out. Despite wearing headphones to get a good night’s sleep, it’s so UNSAFE with anosmia. Of course, I don’t hear much when wearing them. If the fire alarm went off in the hallways, I wouldn’t hear the alarm. If the alarm went off in my apartment, I would eventually hear the alarm because there is one inside my bedroom and living room. If there were a smoke smell, I wouldn’t have a clue. When I’m sleeping, the only senses I can depend on are my hearing, sight, and touch. So, it’s pretty unfortunate that how I would like to block out the noisy neighbor upstairs is risky for me because of my inability to smell.

It is definitely dangerous and annoying. Options are slim. What I’m not going to do as some articles suggest:

1. Approach my neighbor. “Hi, I’m your neighbor downstairs who lives with an invisible disability, can’t sleep because you move and make so much noise, and risk sleeping with headphones that cancel noise at night. Could you please stop?” Absolutely not.
2. Contact neighbor despite them leaving their number on two notes left under and on my door. There is no point in talking to someone who thinks they are doing “mundane” things –their words, not mine. I can’t make this up.
3. Contact police despite them threatening to report me for harassment and disturbances. Yes, this is real life.

Clearly, I’m frustrated with my noisy neighbor and I want it to stop. There are good and bad days. I was sharing this ongoing situation with my friend who also lives with anosmia and we were discussing how this is an issue and for me to raise awareness about what it’s like living with noisy neighbors and being unable to smell. It’s a real struggle. I’ve never had this problem in my previous apartments. It took me a while to realize that it’s kind of not safe to sleep with headphones on when you live alone and with anosmia. Although it’s risky, there are times when I still have to wear them because the noise is unbearable. The property management is aware and actually offered to let me look at other apartments. I checked out one this past week but declined because it’s on the 3rd floor and way too high. I am taking it day by day and wish people were more considerate and mindful of their actions, especially when they know they are being noisy.