My brother’s always been dramatic, but a few months ago, he started bragging about this “new talent” — apparently, he could handle any level of spice.

He’d dump half a bottle of hot sauce on his noodles, chase it with chili flakes, and go, “See? Not even sweating.” The rest of us would be crying over the smallest drop, and he’d sit there calm as Buddha, all smug.

He even started posting TikToks about it. One got over 42k views, which he captioned “Asian genes unlocked.” And he’d do these ridiculous “Spice King” challenges his friends would dare him to do.

One night, Mom made his favorite dish and asked if it was too salty. He said, “Nah. Maybe too little.” So he added more to his plate and took another bite. Made a face, then said, “Not enough, damn,” and added even more.

At this point, we’re all staring at him like, are you serious? Mom grabs a spoonful from his plate and immediately spits it out. “This is pure salt!” she yells. My brother’s just sitting there, chewing like nothing’s wrong.

That’s when it hit us. He literally couldn’t taste salt.

Next day, Mom dragged him to a clinic to get tested cause we all had a hunch of what was happening. Turns out, his “talent” for handling strong flavors wasn’t a talent.

He tested positive for COVID. Lost his sense of taste and smell for over three weeks. He also deleted his TikTok account after this lol

Four months ago, I started going to the gym. All my life, I’ve never been big on physical activities, but I figured it was time to do something about my “chair-shaped” body.

At first, it sucked. My arms hurt, my legs hurt, my soul hurt. But after a few weeks, I started noticing something weird. Everyone around me would be dripping in sweat, and I’d look like I just got there. Completely dry.

At first, I thought I was just built different. I even joked about it with one of the trainers, saying, “Guess my body’s just too efficient.” He laughed, but after a while, people actually started pointing it out. “Dude, how are you not sweating?” “You sure you’re even working out?”

I took it as a compliment. Like, yeah, I guess these activities were just too easy (they weren’t). That my body’s optimized or something.

Summer came, and one day I was jogging outside. Ten minutes in, I start feeling dizzy, my heart’s beating really fast, and I felt like I’m overheating. I sit down, trying to catch my breath, and realize I’m still dry as hell. No sweat. Nothing. Scared the bejesus outta me.

I took myself to the ER, and the nurse asked me, “When’s the last time you remember sweating?” I tell her, “Uh… probably high school?” She just looks at me and goes, “Yeah, that’s not normal.”

Turns out I have a condition where my sweat glands barely work. Basically, my body doesn’t know how to cool itself.

So, yeah. Not a “built different” flex. Just someone who’s one jog away from heatstroke.

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