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I always found that the smell of old books filled me with the urge to defecate, to the extent that I had to deliberately go for a crap before diving into the st
by jjgreen 5y ago
I always found that the smell of old books filled me with the urge to defecate, to the extent that I had to deliberately go for a crap before diving into the stacks. Something of a disadvantage as a pre-internet researcher. I thought I was the only person in the world with this condition, but have subsequently found a couple of other similarly afflicted souls.
- IntrepidWorm 5y agoThere is a semi-documented phenomenon among book store workers regarding just this: employees at retail stores like Barnes and Noble and Borders Books report famously bad cleanups in their bathrooms on a daily basis, reputedly due to this. See: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariko_Aoki_phenomenon https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariko_Aoki_phenomenon The academic consensus seems understandably mixed, but it is certainly a fascinating ponder (what a wonderful avenue of research)! I'd wager any significant breakthroughs in this would certainly be up for consideration for an IgNobel.
- jjgreen 5y agoIt has a name! You have made my day.