Aromatic

Walking into the yellow and blue Swedish mouse maze, formally known as Ikea, one doesn't know if one should be expecting to get rubbed down or cooked up.  There is a peculiar and pervasive scent to all Ikeas that is equal parts carnival (courtesy of the on-site "eatery" which sells mostly hotdogs and lumps of "meat" passing under the title of "Swedish meatballs") and spa (perhaps a result of the assorted candles).  It's infuriating enough to have to take the two story escalator to begin the mouse maze at the top of the building where one literally has no choice but to follow the yellow Swede road which meanders at a maddeningly slow pace through a bevy of sets akin to generic sitcoms.

It's not funny though.  It's not funny at all trying to get past no one that resembles the "Friends" cast, and as if the struggle of dodging all walks of kids, carts, couples and not-as-easy-as-it-looks-to-assemble-crap, the smell continues to permeate my logic.  Truly, I don't know if I'm getting grabbed by a resident Ikea masseuse in the faux comfort of one of a dozen bedroom designs or reaching for the ketchup bottle.

Case in point: only visit Ikea if absolutely, undoubtedly unavoidable (i.e., you can't get that tear-your-hair-out-assemble-yourself couch/bed/armoire/kitchen sink/desk anywhere else) or if you're hungry for flower scented hotdogs.  Yum.  Blue and yellow, blue and yellow, look deep into the "I" of the d.i.y. Swedes.

Life sometimes can be aromatic.

Aromatic: --adjective

  having a distinctive, usually fragrant smell