I remember the moment I lost my sense of smell and taste, like the flick of a switch, on a Zoom call with old college friends, one in Atlanta, the other in Chicago. We all had drinks. That was during the time, in late March, when everyone was drinking and no one felt bad about it. I’d made a Campari spritz, my newfound infatuation with aperitivos inspired by a trip I’d made to Italy only a little over a month earlier—my last trip.
I took a sip and realized I couldn’t taste its bitterness. Then I bit into a potato chip and perceived only the astringent sensation of sodium. You never realize the complexity of a single potato chip until it’s stripped down like that. I didn’t say anything, and continued to drink my spritz, happy to find that the alcohol still hit. After the call, I chalked it up to allergies. I had no other symptoms except for a mild cough and a burning sensation in my upper sinuses (also allergies).
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contributor
contributor
Sasha von Oldershausen is an Iranian American freelance reporter and writer. Her work often centers around the Texas–Mexico border, where she lived for more than three years, and Iranian culture. Since the pandemic, she’s turned her focus to Queens, New York, where she was born, raised, and currently resides. Her words have appeared in The New York Times, Oxford American, Harper’s Magazine, Texas Monthly, and The Paris Review.
