Self Appointed Scent Allergy Spokewoman~

 so, readers, those of you who read me, know my history with asthma, allergies, and the whole 'scent thing' . i want to go to my women's conference next June, but after this weekend, being so ill, i have decided not to attend. i did post a question on my support site asking about scent reduced policies or rules surrounding the 4 night event. i have gotten many kind words from my friends on that thread i created, and then, in my email i found this today-

Hi Poet-

I am so sorry to hear that you suffer so much from from something that seems so innocent.  One thing I would caution against though is making people who wear perfume villains.  I wear perfume everyday, unless I know that there are people like you who will have health problems triggered by it.  It sounds like you are really angry with people like me who love scent, but are more than willing to give it up if asked.  Just please stop calling us inconsiderate. 
 

and this is what i said on the thread. i am also writing it here because it will get more exposure, and i want every single person who reads this to truly understand that i am not being a bitch about this. this is a real problem, and not just for me, but for many women and men around the globe. i know i have readers around, so lets do a little educating, shall we? as the self appointed spokesperson for scent allergy awareness, lets begin:

And rather than reply to her alone, because I wonder if she is the only one who feels this way, I want everyone to read this.

It is wonderful that you would not wear it if you KNEW someone would be sick from it. What about the ones you don't know? Who you walk past in a grocery store or someone who has to ride in an elevator after you step out of it? Or get into a cab after you have exited, or walk past you on a bus? That is how I got sick Saturday....chickie at the checkout at a grocery store with her love of her fragrance not thinking about the people that she doesn't know who come in contact with her. Every single time I have gotten sick is from people I don't know, chance encounters, in places like stores, cab, and workplace. And as far as being angry, you are damned right I am angry. It is because of people who don't think about who they come in contact with from the time they leave their house until the time they get back home that I am penalized and excluded from so many things.

Just a few examples of exclusions are: employment opportunities. I am unable to work in an office setting because a co worker may wear scent. I am not just talking about perfumes; this can also mean body washes, hair sprays, shampoos & conditioners, mousse, deodorant, the laundry soap they use, the fabric softener they use. It could also be as simple as the little air freshener in their car. (This happened on one occasion). There are so many scent free options available out there, I know, because we use them. From laundry soap, dryer sheets, fabric softeners, deodorant, it is not hard to change. It is hard for me, and every single other person out there who cannot change. We suffer and I really mean suffer, by these simple acts that seem 'so innocent'.

I am also made to feel like I am a 'villain'. Have you any idea how it feels to be blacklisted nearly every place you’ve worked because you have spoken up about something that has actually killed some people? Yes, asthma and anaphylactic (sp) shock is deadly. I do not want to be dead. I don't want other people with environmental allergies, asthma, COPD, chronic bronchitis to be dead. Apparently, once again, I am the self appointed spokesperson for this. I get tired. I get angry. At every single job I have had, I have run into this. As a result of a very poorly (if at all) scent reduced policy, I have had to lose time from work, had to go home, buy medicine, and when I was well enough to return to work, be told that sick time, or personal days didn’t cover it. I would then have to make up the shifts I lost. You bet I am angry. Have you ever tried to make up 80 hours of work time while working full time? It is nearly impossible, unless you don’t mind working with NO days off for months.  I knew I was not the only one at my jobs to have these issues, and I would talk to them, I would ask for their support to go to management. When the time came for a meeting, there I’d be all alone, no one back me up. Tell me, how would that make you feel? Not only am I invisibly disabled, I am made to feel like shit for defending it, alone. One little person.

It is not too much to ask to have people be more aware of what they are doing around others.

I appreciate all of the kind words of support from those of you who have left the comments on this thread. I know this is not about alcoholism, but it is EVERYDAY Living, and this is where I need to share. I have every right to share just as everyone has. This is more life threatening than drinking ever was to me. 

side, note....the $59.00 worth of antibiotics (with no prescription drug coverage) i had to buy (500 mg caplets the size of horse pills that i take morning and night for the next 10 days) will soon begin to help me feel better. 

make tonight GREAT~ poet.