Yeah, it’s a thing. I’ve known for years that many scented items tend to cause undesirable reactions in me. Itchy, watering eyes, sneezing, my airways restrict, breathing becomes an adventure, my lungs start producing mucus, which I’m constantly trying to cough up. It can be subtle, or it can come on like a freight train.

Case in point, I went to my pain Dr. last week. At first, all was well, I did the mandatory paperwork, even though NOTHING whatsoever has changed. Gee, thanks. But as I’m waiting in the lobby, my eyes start watering, and I’m sneezing a little. As I have drawn the attention of the receptionist, I comment that something has triggerd my athsma. By now I know what’s going on, and I’m looking around for the source of my irritation, and I spot one of those damnable plug in doo dads that stink up a room under the guise of “scent.” I have an “aha” moment and I figure if it doesn’t get any worse, I can probably live with it.

Well, I get called back for the general routine of getting weighed, a blood pressure check, and a what medicines I’m taking rehash. So far all is well.

Then I get taken down the hall to a room to wait for the Dr. I passed through a wall of stench that set me off big time. I proclaimed “are y’all trying to kill me!?” This end of the office stinks to high heaven from what I do not know, but it caused the worst reaction I have ever had to fragrance. My nose is running, eyes watering, my throat drew up like a sphincter looking over a 10,000 foot precipice. I’m alone in the room, no fucking tissues. Dammit. I grab the trash can and use it to spit up the crud coming up from my lungs. Every single breath I can actually taste the damnable stench in the air. Every breath I take I can feel my condition worsening. I’m coughing now. Wheezing. Still can taste the stench. Jebus I’m miserable. One of the ladies there came in and informed me the offending candle had been extinguished. A candle? A god damn stench machine of destruction!

The doc comes in finally, and he is fully aware of my condition, everyone nearby can probably hear my cough, my sniffling, my misery, and I can tell by the look in his eye, somebody was getting chewed out later. I apologized to him, and he apologized to me. He got me out ASAP, I got outside and I just stood there for a few minutes savoring clean fresh air. It took me a couple of hours for the reaction to settle down, but as long as 5 hours later, both of my lungs still felt like they had been punched by Mike Tyson. Never, have I ever, been so bruatlly attacked by a scent.

I suppose that stupid plug in doo dad may have been innocent. But I do not doubt that is was small part of the conspiracy to kill me. 😉

So, I recently decided to look this issue up on the net. I found that as many as 1 in 3 people have fragrance sensitivities! Wow. I am not alone. It can even be classified as a disability, from what I’ve read.

My wife also has a touch of it, nowhere near as bad as me. We are always looking for unscented, in the items we use. Be it lotions, detergent, fabric softener, etc. But it isn’t easy. Some of the things that claim “unscented,” are actually far from it. So many things we use on a daily basis are infused with some sort of chemically derived stink, I suppose to attract ants or bees, or something? I don’t get it. What I do get is an uncomfortable, all the way to absolutely miserable, reaction to this shit.

I even occaisionally have issues walking down a grocery aisle. The person who had dumped an entire bottle of personal stench upon themsleves long gone, I’m doing my best to escape the unseen cloud particles of doom, that is attacking me. How much of that crap does a person need? I don’t know how it doesn’t kill them, as much discomfort as it causes me.

Be mindful of your stink ya’ll. I mean, shower up, please. But some of us do not react well to the store bought stink you put on later. Ok?

…and candles. KILL ALL CANDLES!

Y’all have a good one. SD