Allergies and Mass

[Appleby]

Two weeks ago when I was at Mass, a young woman came in late (which they habitually do in our parish) and sat next to me. Apparently she had dumped at least half a gallon of very strong, cheap cologne over herself before she arrived. I have a serious allergy to scent which makes my throat close up and starts me coughing. In this case because she was late and had already disrupted the whole row, I put my handkerchief over my mouth for most of the Mass and stayed put but it was a very unpleasant circumstance.

Is there any polite way to flee when something like this happens, without disrupting the Mass, and incidentally making Perfumed Patty feel as if I am unwilling to sit next to her personally?

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

I think you can slip out of the pew quietly if you need to. It will bother people only for a moment while you’re getting past them. And if you need to explain anything to the woman with the cologne a simple “excuse me…allergies…” while holding a handkerchief should be sufficient.

I wish people would learn that a little goes a long way when it comes to cologne.

 

[Newbie2]

I think you can slip out of the pew quietly if you need to. It will bother people only for a moment while you’re getting past them. And if you need to explain anything to the woman with the cologne a simple “excuse me…allergies…” while holding a handkerchief should be sufficient.

I wish people would learn that a little goes a long way when it comes to cologne.

Good answer.

I drove to Florida and back from Michigan with My MIL under the same circumstances. Every time I opened the window a crack to help vent out the car I’d get an earful that we had the A/C on, CLOSE THE WINDOW!, etc.

 

[Appleby]

Thanks, we have an ongoing battle at work about this, including people who spray their cologne in the washrooms where it lingers to choke the unwary. But I always hesitate to move away from people who have no self-control with the stuff, as I honestly believe that many of them do not realize how strongly they smell.

 

[mammallama]

Is there any polite way to flee when something like this happens, without disrupting the Mass, and incidentally making Perfumed Patty feel as if I am unwilling to sit next to her personally?

Well,suppose you stayed put,when into an asthmatic fit,coughed for fifteen minutes till you passed out.That probably would be a greater distruption of the Mass

 

[Appleby]

Well if it got that bad, of course I would excuse myself and leave the room.

 

[puzzleannie]

ditto for men with strong after shave or cologne

I can get an asthma attack just from sitting next to someone who uses regular downy fabric softener, so I can relate.

 

[Brenda_V]

ditto for men with strong after shave or cologne

I can get an asthma attack just from sitting next to someone who uses regular downy fabric softener, so I can relate.

Thankfully my allergies do not go into my lungs, just my head causing that awful post-nasal drip and then a cough, a bad cough. I have been known to pop a piece of gum in my mouth to suck on because that is all I had and it helps with the coughing fit!

Anyway, this goes right down to my biggest pet peeve! Why does everything have to have a scent in it? Stop and think about how many scents you probably apply to your body before you even get dressed in the morning!

1. toothpaste (okay, this one is a natural scent and most people don’t have a problem with it)
2. your shampoo
3. your conditioner
4. your body wash be it a bar or liquid
5. the towel you dry yourself off with may impart a scent
6. your body lotion
7. your body powder
8. your make-up (yes, most has a scent)
9. your cologne, perfume, or other simple scent

Now some of us only have #'s 1, 2, 4, 6 and 7, some even less because we use unscented products.

Now this was all before you even put your clothes on - there you have your laundry detergent and fabric softener. Of course some of us use the scent free stuff and don’t use a fabric softener except something natural like vinegar or baking soda which by its very nature really doesn’t carry a scent.

Then you have the kitty litters that have so much scent in them that many cats won’t even use them! We bought one the other day because it was a really good price but every time a cat uses the box she stirs up the scent and we all end up wondering why we can’t breath at first, poor kitties have to be right down in it!

I beg all of you to start thinking about it, why do you need “fresh breeze” scent on your clothes? Or “lavender”? Or…to be perfectly honest if you want your clothes to smell like lavender store them with a sachet with real lavender in it, those of us with extreme sensitivities to scents will have less of a problem with the natural one than the artificial one that is used in the detergents!

Brenda V.

 

[BlestOne]

I don’t have allergies, but I do have a very sensitive sense of smell. In fact, I had to start smoking again just because I could smell people 3 offices away from me at work and I could, with a great degree of accuracy, tell you what they ate for lunch. That being said, I avoid the “old lady alley” at mass where all the old ladies wear the really strong floral perfumes. I literally get sick to my stomach or acquire overwhelming nausea from the smells. But even worse than that for me is unbrushed teeth… I get so sick from that smell too. I have to keep Listerine breath strips on my key chain all the time… and if I suspect it is one of the kids… they aren’t asked… they are given a strip to freshen their breath.

Imagine what it was like when I was pregnant… when your sense of smell increases dramatically… I could throw up from someones bad breath or perfume…or lack there of…

Addition… smells that don’t bother me…
real flowers, real fruits, vegetables and herbs, incense in Church, and believe it or not… industrial chemicals like Methyl-ethyl- keytone or ethanyol… go figure huh???

 

[Appleby]

Thank heavens there are many scent-free products and even detergent without either perfume or dye. I use a neutral-air spray for, ahem, odours that MUST be covered up. And definitely we buy the unscented cat litter. My cat will not use the other kind.

I would like to know why it is virtually impossible to walk into a department store without having to walk through a hideous jumble of smells coming at you from every direction. I wonder how much business those places have lost because people cannot or prefer not to run through with her mouth and nose buried in a hankie!