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A Canary's Eye View Challenges | ||||||||||||||||||
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Human Contact
I am unable to go to any kind of meeting or public place -- not only because of outgassing from building products and heating systems; not only from pesticides and cleaning products and "air fresheners" -- but even from normal laundry products and personal-care products. I'm isolated and hungry for social contact. If you showed up at my door, I would want to spend time with you. In order to do that, I need to take some precautions... SubstancesI wouldn't be able to let you in, or even stand and talk to you if you had on you (or your clothes)...
...not to mention
...or if you had been around these things recently enough that they were still clinging to your clothes and hair:
Dealing with itNow, imagine you have come to the door, and I have to smell you to find out whether you are safe for me to be exposed to, and if not, to figure out how we can deal with it:
Now imagine you are me, trying to figure out how to tell you beforehand that we need to do all that. How can I be kind and compassionate, tell you in a gentle way that won't sound so weird you just decide to avoid me? Advance preparation If we have time to plan ahead, we can get you some of the products I use. A giftAs you can imagine, I don't get many visitors. I don't go out to meetings, or church, or parties; with no control over what I'm exposed to in public, I just get sick. So I'm pretty isolated. When someone is willing to go through this for me, I appreciate it. It's a treasure to have real human contact. © copyright Catherine Holmes Clark, 1999; last updated 25 July 1999 |