On Fri, 13 Apr 2001, Sonja van Baardwijk-Holten wrote:
> Ronn Blankenship schreef:
>
> > At 08:33 AM 4/12/01 -0500, you wrote:
> >
> > >
> > >One problem I have with fur is allergies. I'm rather allergic to rabbit,
> > >and the only real animal fur we have here is a rabbit pelt my husband
> > >acquired when he was young. He gets to keep it boxed up and way away from
> > >me. :) (I've told him that if he really wanted to actually display it,
> > >he could seal it in plastic and do so. I just don't want to breathe
> > >anywhere near it.)
> > >
> > >The rabbit allergy wreaks havoc on me if I need to go to a pet store near
> > >Easter. I've given up on going to the small local independent chain
> > >because the stores tend to have allergy-provoking animals near the cash
> > >register on a regular basis; the last time I went to one of them, there
> > >were rabbits not 5 feet (1.6 meters or so) from the counter, and I was
> > >miserable for the next hour. In principle, I'd like to go to the small,
> > >local, independent stores, but if it's going to hurt me in practice, I'll
> > >go to the national chain instead.
> > >
> > (2) I used to be so allergic to cats that I could hardly go into a house
> > where cats lived, even if the cat was outside at the time. If I handled a
> > cat, my nose, etc., would fill up with mucus to the point where I could not
> > breathe except through my mouth, my eyes would turn red and pour tears, and
> > my face and neck would turn red and swell. I would have to immediately
> > take my medicine, then a long hot bath and put on all clean clothes
> > (letting my mother handle the old ones until she washed them). Eventually,
> > however, I grew out of it, and for most of the past several years have had
> > two cats living in the house with me. Perhaps you will get lucky, too.
>
> Well Julia you'll have a hard time keeping your kid away from all
> those little nice furry animals. Especially if the local tamtam has
> made it known that at a certain store there are such cute furry little
> animals. As I understood from my mom, you and I should start preparing
> to visit a lot of litlle cute cuddly animals in the future. I'm afraid
> that no child in the 'wanne touch cute animal' age is going to take
> pitty on you just because you feel bad near something furry. :o)
I'm just going to refuse to take the kid to see the cuddly furry beasts.
Daddy can do it, or a friend, but I just won't. And woe unto any child of
mine who volunteers to take the class pet, unless it's a fish of some
sort.... (But by the age at which teachers might want kids taking the
class pet home, I think a kid can grasp the concept of "You may not
volunteer to bring the class pet home for vacation." And if not, a call
to the teacher will straighten things out in a hurry -- I figure if worst
comes to worst, it'll be "Look, if that pet comes here, it'll be killed"
and that will be the end of THAT.)
Julia
