The smell of money trumps common sense

by J Scott Christianson, Columbia Daily Tribune Columnist

Over lunch with some friends who work at a bank, the conversation turned to the smell of money.

“We had a baker that came in every day at noon,” one teller said. “I loved the way his deposits smelled.” Another teller complained, “We had a guy that owned a fresh fish market, and I hated handling his money. It reeked of fish.”

I had always heard of “the smell of money” but never imagined the expression referred to powdered sugar and fish.