Point of information re: allergies
If you keep something in a place that has cats, or a place in which people smoke, you cannot then send it to me. It could kill me.
Once you've opened the box in that environment, you've let the allergen in. The cat doesn't have to go lick it. The smoker doesn't have to go puff smoke on it. The thing about allergies is that it doesn't take much. They are, definitionally, overreactions.
The things that nobody realizes/believes could possibly be a problem? They're the ones that get me every time.
I can have an asthma attack from smoke or mildew that most other people can't even detect -- or cats who used to live somewhere I'm at, or the tiny bit of pollen from that one flower, or that lovely scent that you didn't warn me about before the hug, or that one bit of room that didn't get dusted.
And there are days when I can handle far more than that and be fine. But they don't change the fact that on other days, the tiny amount is all it takes.
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I'm not writing this to single anyone out; I'm writing it because there's a pervasive lack of awareness in our community, and it's a threat to my (already fragile!) health. And... this sort of thing is only manageable if people are aware.
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ETA: As sometimes happens, talking about allergies for an extended period set off a psychosomatic attack here & I had to use rescue inhalor. So -- talk amongst yourselves? :) I'm afraid I'm going into radio silence on the topic for probably the rest of the day.
Once you've opened the box in that environment, you've let the allergen in. The cat doesn't have to go lick it. The smoker doesn't have to go puff smoke on it. The thing about allergies is that it doesn't take much. They are, definitionally, overreactions.
The things that nobody realizes/believes could possibly be a problem? They're the ones that get me every time.
I can have an asthma attack from smoke or mildew that most other people can't even detect -- or cats who used to live somewhere I'm at, or the tiny bit of pollen from that one flower, or that lovely scent that you didn't warn me about before the hug, or that one bit of room that didn't get dusted.
And there are days when I can handle far more than that and be fine. But they don't change the fact that on other days, the tiny amount is all it takes.
---
I'm not writing this to single anyone out; I'm writing it because there's a pervasive lack of awareness in our community, and it's a threat to my (already fragile!) health. And... this sort of thing is only manageable if people are aware.
---
ETA: As sometimes happens, talking about allergies for an extended period set off a psychosomatic attack here & I had to use rescue inhalor. So -- talk amongst yourselves? :) I'm afraid I'm going into radio silence on the topic for probably the rest of the day.