It really bites to have allergies because you never know when something is going to trigger an asthma attack or migraine.  Today I had problems at my job. 

Now, first off, I'm lucky to have the job I have.  A nice, comfy job at a book store where I can spend my entire day organizing and cataloging things and helping people find obscure titles -- reminds me of the job I had at the UWSP library when I was a freshman in 1989 -- putting books in neat little piles gives me moments of pure Zen.  Also, I love books.  But what I don't love is working at a dirt mall selling books next to a merchant selling very stinky air fresheners that smell like fake cranberries -- the very same obnoxious berry-smelling air freshener you might gag on in a gas station restroom, you know, the industrial size chalky paste used to try to cover up the smell of bartime puke and other road side disasterous smells such as trucker body odor and human exhaust fumes from bad chilli. 

Air fresheners tend to make allergy and asthma sufferers like myself sick.  Worse yet on me are aerosol air fresheners.  There is no such thing as a hypoallergic air freshener!  Yet when I complained to the merchant selling the stinky things, he decided to argue with me about how I felt, telling me that I shouldn't be having a reaction to his product at all and that I'm the first to complain about his stuff.  To make matters worse, he went ahead and tried to sell me some of his product.  SURE, buddy.  Your stinky air fresheners already make me bleary eyed, sneezy, and head throbbity -- what makes you think I like feeling this way?  HE even suggested I go home and take some benedryl -- SURE, guy, then I wouldn't be able to concentrate at work...  The humanity!

So I complained to the mall manager.  In vain.  She told me that maybe I should quit my job.  Now this pissed me off even more.  Not only am I bleary eyed, sneezy, and head throbbity, I'm insulted.  What if I was handicapped in some other way?  What if I didn't have legs and needed a wheel chair and there was no ramp allowing me to come into the mall to shop?  What would the mall manager say to me if I requested help?  "Maybe you shouldn't shop here..."  It's just crass.

There oughta be a law or ordinance or something against obnoxious smells. 

Now, there are perfumes out there I'm not allergic to, yet there are also some people who wear way too much stinky stuff and there are people who religiously spray their homes with air fresheners.  Another obnoxious smell is bad incense -- the stick incense you might buy from a gas station or tourist trap gift store.  You'll know you've bought bad incense when you burn it and it leaves charcoal stains on your ceiling and walls.  The point I'm trying to make here is that even "good" smells can be too much.  I really wish people would be more courteous and realize that not everyone want to smell your favorite stench.

After the fiasco I had at work today, the next obnoxious odor to hit me was the smell of a customer dropping ass right in the middle of the busiest section of my store.  I understand that accidents happen and sometimes you can't make it to a restroom in time to conveniently fart in a place where one should fart, but come on!  And the guy laughed about it after he let it go!  He sends the rest of my customers gagging and fleeing but since I'm the assistant manager, I've got to stand in his cloud of stench.  I couldn't wait for one of my associates to come and relieve me so I could go outside and get a long breath of fresh air.

Another thing that bugs me is, after quitting smoking, my sense of smell and taste has improved.  I almost want to take up smoking again just so it can dull my senses enough so I don't get the full blast of other people's stinkiness!  Yet that's another thing making me bite the dust...  I never realized before just how stinky a habit smoking is.  Everytime a co-worker of mine comes back from a ciggie break, they come back smouldering like a tray full of butts.  I can't stand that post burnt cigarette smell anymore.  There was a time when I really liked it and the smell made me want to indulge, now the smell literally stings my sinuses.  I guess I had it coming sometime... better that than getting cancer, I suppose.

My other gripe is about dust.  And those itty-bitty dust mites that make me gag in the morning.  If I don't wash my bedding at least once a week, I wake up bleary eyed, sneezy, and head throbbity.  Having allergies and asthma makes me clean like a mad woman now.  I used to be more of a slob (due to sheer laziness not necessarily because I was stupid) but now I see the benefits of having a clean, ship-shape place.  My friend Greg said it best to me: "your home should be your place of pride."  I know it now, my friend.  Tomorrow maybe I'll talk about my new home instead of spending my time here grumbling about nasty odors.

Well, what can you do but live, right?  I'm glad to be going home where I can better control my environment.  Here's to better smells...

~V