#atsma

I hate saying “Please would you not smoke close to me” or “Please could you go sit somewhere else / let me sit somewhere else, ‘cause I can’t stand your perfume.” I honestly hate that to the core, as do people hate me saying those things to them.

That’s why I always explain “Sorry, but I’m multi chemical sensitive” or “I’m sorry to ask you this, but I’m allergic and your perfume can send me to hospital.” And when I tell you this, I am trusting you with an information about an illness that I hate to the core, that I despise and don’t want to get reminded about. I expect you to understand that smoking right next to me could actually kill me.

So why people get angry when I say these things? They call me an attention whore, and tell me I have no right to restrict their lives. That hurts, that really really hurts. Because my life is hard enough as it is. I have to live with the knowledge that some wrong move, too strong perfume, a smoker, a traffic jam, a house with bad air or a place cleaned with wrong products could mean days in hospital or even death. The fact that people don’t take these kind of things seriously and make fun of me asking them _not to do things that could kill me_.

So please, if you sit next to some in a buss or in a class or anything else and that someone asks you to sit somewhere else, or not to smoke or smt, it doesn’t mean they are arrogant or trying to force you to their opinions or anything like that. You can never know if the person is allergic to something, or hypersensitive, or astmathic or has MCS like me. You just have to respect their wish or at least ask for a reason, not get angry at them and do what they asked you not to.