On a serious note, COVID isn’t the only virus that can cause loss of smell (permanent or temporary). I lost it before COVID for a month or so, and it took some time for it to return completely. But to this day, there are still certain chemical smells (like deodorants in spray) that smell a tiny bit off to me.
In my case, the only reason they’d fire people is if they refused to work overtime, hah.
I did that when I worked customer support. The only way I could retain the little bit of sanity I had left. But to be honest, we were so understaffed that even if I slipped, they wouldn’t have fired me. There was one guy who was so angry with a customer that he wrote their number down, and then over his break called the customer with his private phone to argue with them. Still didn’t get fired, lol.
Yeah, I think my sense of smell in general has never returned in full capacity. I think it’s slightly weaker. Crazy stuff.