You can leave your heart in San Francisco, but please don’t wear any perfume. A recent shakeup with the San Francisco Opera Company regarding its use of fake fog during productions had led to an exploration of the city’s ultra-PC city code…and what treasures it holds!
A decade ago, the city by the bay was ready to ban perfume at public meetings to accommodate people with “multiple chemical sensitivity” and the nebulous “environmental illness.”
One columnist wittily termed this over-regulation “The Tyranny of the Phew” when the city’s disability coordinator explained the perfume problem: “Fragrances and chemicals constitute the same type of barrier as a set of stairs for someone in a wheelchair.” Ultimately perfume remained legal, but the city still urges that citizens strictly limit their personal impact on the shared indoor environment by limiting the use of scented personal-care products.