Taking Tea in the Kasbah



Last week, I asked you to choose between being a brilliant singer in a bad band or being a mediocre singer in a wildly popular band. While the majority ruled in favor of having the talent even if it meant being in a terrible band, two people voted for being in the wildly popular band. One such person even asked her musician husband who has spent many years working on a variety of music projects and he weighed in on it with quick, yet decisive answer: mediocre singer in a wildly popular band. Fascinating.

Photo Credit: Insomnia PHT via Compfight cc

Photo Credit: Insomnia PHT via Compfight cc

Because I’ve so admired and coveted other people’s talent at having a captivating, lovely singing voice, I chose to be a brilliant singer in a mediocre band. In fact, I’m pretty sure I would go so far as to say I’d volunteer to donate a kidney in order to have a stellar, hauntingly beautiful singing voice.

Awkward and unnecessary confessional paragraph of a tangential nature: Sure, one of my kidneys is about the size of ping-pong ball and is only able to do about 20% of what a full-size kidney can do. And while I am fond of The Nubbin and appreciate all it does given it’s teeny, tiny size, I can’t really spare the other full-sized one because The Nubbin, mighty as she is, can’t do the job alone. So, if I were to donate a kidney, The Nubbin would be the one to go, though I’m not sure how useful she’d be in someone else’s body. This, however, doesn’t diminish the sacrifice I’d be willing to make for a killer singing voice because what if I went ahead with it and the surgeons took THE WRONG KIDNEY?  It would be like playing Russian Roulette, except instead of bullets, there would be scalpels, and instead of a shoot out it would be regular kidney vs The Nubbin. Thus, it’s a totally legit, fake sacrificial statement. 

But I digress…

In summary, I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to have a brilliant singing voice that made people want to weep gentle tears of joy whenever they heard it. Also, bonus points would be awarded if I could make them want to sing along, like I do every time I hear this hauntingly beautiful song by the Wailin’ Jennys:

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So, if that means I have to be a part of a mediocre band in order to possess the voice of an ethereal goddess, so be it. At the very least, I would push for an awesome band name, like ‘The Phrenology Heads’. Or ‘The Cow Tippers’. Or ‘The Procrastinators’.*

Now that I’m able to scratch off over-sharing on my list for the day, let’s move on to this week’s question. Instead of giving you an either/or question this week, I’m going to expand it a bit and give you not one, and not two, but FIVE options:

If you had to completely give up one of your five senses, would you rather give up your sight, hearing, sense of smell, sense of touch, or the ability to taste?

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And now I’ll turn the kasbah floor over to you, intelligent readers. Which of the five senses would you be willing to give up? Which sense could you live without? (And no, common sense is NOT one of the options.) The lanterns are lit and the tea is ready. Come share your clever thoughts. I always love to hear from you.

25 thoughts on “Wednesday’s Would You Rather… Question: The Five Senses

  1. ooooh, you’re a Wailin’ Jennys fan… ME TOO!!
    And… how does one find out one has a diminutive kidney?? (I don’t suppose you want to answer that here, which is cool.)
    But to the main question at hand: I’ve actually thought about the choice between sight and hearing many times, but never all five at once. Taste and Smell go hand in hand, I believe, and if I gave up either, there would go my ability to enjoy chocolate, coffee, wine, cake… I think you see where I’m going with that. NOT ON YOUR LIFE!.
    Touch, at first consideration, seems a little redundant, but it could actually have more far-reaching impact than initially thought. It could be quite hard to DO stuff without being able to feel anything.
    I’m going to choose sight to be the one to go. I can always use my imagination to ‘see’ beautiful things once they’re described and there are many ways to communicate. I think there are more resources in place to assist the blind than the deaf.

    • on ,
      Tami Clayton said:

      I love the Wailin’ Jennys. Their voices are so beautiful and blend so well together. As for finding out one has a tiny kidney, I was having some pain in my side/lower back a few years ago and my doctor wanted to see if my kidneys were causing it. A couple of abdominal x-rays later I found out my kidneys were just fine though I have a Nubbin-sized one on my right side. It’s weird to go through your life thinking all of those internal organs are just fine, doing their thing, and then discover one of them is more appropriately sized for a Hobbit.

      To give up being able to taste chocolate and wine sounds would be tragic! How would we get any writing done? 😉 There does seem to be more resources to assist the blind than the hearing impaired and my visual memory is more acute than my memory for sound, so you make a good point. Imaginations are useful in more ways than one. 🙂

  2. I’m going to give up smell. This is rather strange because I’d have to say it’s my strongest sense. I could smell a dirty sock from across the house. I also could roll around on the floor in ecstasy (much like my dogs) at the smell of baking cookies. No, of course I don’t do that. You did have the visual, didn’t you.

    Anywho, I weighed not having the ability to read great books or listen to music. Smell has to go.

    • I still have the visual, Brinda. I so think you do that under the guise of “playing with your precious babies.”

    • on ,
      Tami Clayton said:

      Wow, you DO have a super strong sense of smell. And I thought mine was heightened. Smells have such a strong tie to memories for me (both good and bad). So while I can’t smell a sock from across a room, if even the faintest whiff of something passes by me, I am immediately drawn into a memory of that scent or creating a new one if it is something I’m smelling for the first time. Strangely powerful stuff.

      And yes, I totally had the visual. 🙂

  3. This one was not a difficult as I’d imagined. I would give up taste. It might make things icky for those who eat my cooking since I rarely follow recipes exactly and taste-as-I-go, but I could have a designated taster. BONUS! If I closed my eyes, someone could feed me pureed broccoli and yogurt and tell me it’s yummy Banana Pudding.

    The ability to feel? No way! For more reasons than you (trust me) want to hear catalogued on your blog.

    See beauty around me? Please, NO! I want to visit every one of the places shown in your video clip. I would settle for temporary loss of sight when I look at my rear in the mirror, but that’s not an on-the-table option.

    Hear voices like those of my bestie, beautiful song, children’s chatter, rustling leaves, boot-scootin’ dance inspiration? It would so challenge my glee-meter.

    Smell? Never to stand on a beach and sniff the salty air, sit in my imaginary tree house and smell the pines? Never smell the memories freshly mowed grass incites. Nope. Nope. Nope.

    Have blender. Will travel.

    • on ,
      Tami Clayton said:

      I love your motto: Have blender. Will travel. It perfectly sums up your well-thought out choice. 🙂

  4. I’d go with sight. If I couldn’t hear, I couldn’t sing, and while I can’t claim the kind of singing voice that would make you wax rhapsodic (isn’t that a cool word combo?), Tami, I do rather depend on what I got. And God forbid I lose the taste/smell combo. Pizza and beer would never be the same. Losing touch would be rather dangerous, so, yeah, sight’s the one to go. And thank you for that fascinating overshare. Nubbin it too cool!

    • on ,
      Tami Clayton said:

      Wax rhapsodic IS a cool phrase! I had to laugh out loud when I read “And God forbid I lose the taste/smell combo. Pizza and beer would never be the same.” Everyone has their priorities. 🙂

  5. Oh boy, this is really a tough one … I have greatly enjoyed and appreciated the use of all five senses all these long years of having them intact, so I’m feeling hesitant to surrender any –even if only hypothetically. But okay, I’ll go with giving up taste. I almost said smell, but that’s just foolish, because anyone who has ever had a stuffed up nose can tell you that if you can’t smell it you ain’t tasting it. On the flip side, if I couldn’t taste anything than maybe it would’n’t be so torturous to give up eating surgery treats 😀

    BTW, I’m LOVING the look of your remodel over here at the Kasbah. Very classy, yet comfortable.

    • on ,
      Tami Clayton said:

      Taste seems to be the more popular one to give up so far. I’ve been thinking about all of the healthy foods that I really don’t care for that I would be more inclined to eat if I couldn’t taste them. Though I would very much miss the salty-sweet taste of my favorite candy bar or the savory flavor of my Moroccan bean soup.

      Many thanks for the kind compliment on the kasbah redesign. Laird and the classy British actor did a fabulous job. 🙂

  6. I think if I had to give up one sense I’d give up taste. Maybe then I’d be able to keep my weight under control…nothing would taste good. LOL
    Great blog. You made me think!

    • on ,
      Tami Clayton said:

      Another vote for taste! I’m seeing a trend relating to weight loss here… 😉

  7. I would love to posses an ethereal singing voice like that of the Jennys, and it took me a loooong time to realize God did bless me with a voice. Paper is my microphone.

    As for which sense I’d lose, I if I absolutely had to choose… no. I can’t choose. But I do know I’d never want to lose my common sense, nor my sense of humour.

    • on ,
      Tami Clayton said:

      “…it took me a loooong time to realize God did bless me with a voice. Paper is my microphone.” Nicely said. I think paper is my microphone as well. It keeps people from having pained expressions on their faces and covering their ears on the remote chance I chose to sing in public.

      And I think you skirted the issue here, dear Sherry. Common sense and sense of humo(u)r are important, but not on the table. Go ahead and keep those, but the question begs to be answered: which other sense will it be? 😉

      • You mean I can’t chose not to chose? Egads, woman! Sound. Okay. I’ll still be able to dance to the vibrations.

        • on ,
          Tami Clayton said:

          I know, I can be a little bossy that way. Just ask my younger sisters. On second thought, don’t. I can only imagine what falsehoods tales they’d tell about me.

          In reading everyone’s responses, it has been so interesting to see how each person would compensate for the missing sense. Being able to feel the vibrations as a way to still enjoy music is brilliant.

  8. I would give up taste….but to be fair, that has more to do with where my taste is at in my current life. Due to illness and medication, my sense of taste is already f@cked….so I wouldn’t really be giving up that much. But, this question assumes that we all already have all of these senses. What about those of us who are Deaf or blind? Or, what about the many elderly who have already lost their sense of smell and taste. Those with diabetes who have lost taste and smell. Now touch….I do not ever want to get rid of that. Maybe I’ll put them in order: taste, hearing, smell, sight, touch. I’m going with that order.

    • on ,
      Tami Clayton said:

      You bring up a great point ~ what about those among us who have already given up (or never had to begin with) one of the five senses? Hadn’t considered that when wording my question. It’s such a major bummer that your sense of taste is so screwy right now. I truly hope it is restored in the very near future. It’s fascinating to me what each of us is prioritizing with our senses. So you would give up sight and hearing before touch, eh? Wouldn’t have guessed that about you. Thanks for sharing!

  9. Like many others, I would give up taste. I would be quite happy to Smell the coffee, or the cookies, and forget about the taste. I suspect that if I no longer had taste,l would only eat for fuel. Think of the weight loss possibilities!

    • on ,
      Tami Clayton said:

      Smell and taste are so intrinsically linked, aren’t they? It makes sense to give up taste as long as you can still smell things. It makes eating so much more enjoyable.

  10. Okay, I had to laugh out loud when you said nubbin because it reminded me of Chandler on Friends when he talked about his nubbin ~ only his nubbin was his third nipple, lol!
    Back to the question, I would give up taste (that seems to be pretty popular, eh?) ~ it’s just the only one that I think I could live without.

    • on ,
      Tami Clayton said:

      Oh, that’s right – Chandler had a nubbin, didn’t he? Too funny. Maybe that’s where my subconscious got the name for my itty bitty kidney.

      Taste is the sense of choice to abandon in the kasbah these days. If I’m not careful, I’ll trip over the many sets of taste buds left all over the floor. 😉

  11. on ,
    Marcia said:

    I’m with Brinda, I’d have to give up smell…and ironically I too would say it’s my strongest sense!

    • on ,
      Tami Clayton said:

      You, me, and Brinda are the only ones who chose to give up our sense of smell and we’re the ones who are the most sensitive to smells. Very interesting…

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