Single. Solo. Mono. One. Solitary.
That's me, the single woman in the big city. As in the 4th largest city in the U.S. And as all large cities do, Houston has a bit of a bad rep when it comes to crime. MSN recently just ran an article about "The Office's" Kelly Pinckler and being single. She told a delightful story about living alone and literally peeing her pants in fear one night over something very trivial. It called to me as a fellow single women and I thought I would share my own "scared single women in a big city" story. Believe me, it's good.
When I first moved to the city, a year ago my dad made a big deal out of ordering the top, police issued brand of Mace. He did a massive amount of research into tasers, pepper spray, and other self-defense tools and in the end determined that not only was this the most effective at incapacitating any intruder, mugger, etc. It also was the object that lasted the longest and thus gave me, his beloved eldest daughter the most time to escape.
When I was living all by myself in my large two bedroom apartment on the outskirts of town, there were many a night where I would fall asleep(literally) with my bottle of Mace clutched tightly in my hand as a security blanket. However, a couple of months ago when I ironically moved closer to downtown and in with a roommate, the trend stopped. The bottle still stayed but now it sat dusty on my nightstand. Still within reach but not in the same bed as me. An apt metaphor perhaps for my growing confidence and journey in this massive city.
So there it sat, at least until a couple of nights ago when the tipping point for this story occurred.
It's absurdly scary to wake up and not be able to breathe. The first thing you need to know is that I am not a morning person. Even awake on time I exist in a semi-groggy dream state until I hit the shower. My mind couldn't keep up but my body knew that my room was pitch dark and my chest was burning. The room was hot and the air was thick. I lay in my bed, still half asleep trying to draw in deep breathes before my mind registered panic. Can't breath! Need Oxygen! it screamed. And suddenly I was very much wide awake.
For a few milliseconds, I did actually think I was dying. My father has asthma and while I have never shown any severe signs of the disease. In my panicked mind I kept thinking "this is what it feels like to die from an asthma attack."
After my initial panic when I realized I was still alive and could still breathe as long as I didn't mind the deep coughs that went with each breath. I thought perhaps it might have been my pet's cages. Perhaps one of them had died overnight and the horrendous smell and oder was causing me to cough.
At this point I got up. I needed fresh air. I stumbled to the bathroom and my coughing fit seemed to die down a little. Maybe I'm just sick my still tired brain thought. And I actually stumbled my way back to bed where I promptly began coughing again!
By this point I had awakened my roommate who strolled into my room with two bottles of cough syrup. Took one step towards my bed and herself began coughing. At this point we both figured out something was up and started a mad dash around the house for the source of the smell/oder.
Garage can? Nope, just emptied it. Sink, nope. Pet cages. Nope, all still alive accounted for and while a little stinky...not that stinky! I retreated towards the living room and my roommate dug out a small fan to circulate the air in my room. One mad dash in, plug it in and run out! I also opened the windows and the front door and back door of our house.
It wasn't until two hours later that I even ventured back in and found the Mace canister lying underneath my bed halfway dispensed. I took a whiff of the dispenser opening and figured out that was the source real quick! That's Right! I Maced myself!
Needless to say, somehow the Mace fell off my nightstand hit the ground at the exactly precise point and dispensed some of the liquid inside my very, very small room.
Days later it's hilarous! Just another adventure in my roadtrip of life. But at the moment with a house that smelled like Mace all day, a nagging coughing feeling in my lungs, a su
rpirse discovery that my computer had been coated later that day, it wasn't very funny.
But at least I guess I know that my dad was right. That stuff will stop you in your tracks! Watch out bad guys! You don't want to mess with my superhero persona Mace girl. I might even feel bad for you if she has to spray you with this stuff.
That's me, the single woman in the big city. As in the 4th largest city in the U.S. And as all large cities do, Houston has a bit of a bad rep when it comes to crime. MSN recently just ran an article about "The Office's" Kelly Pinckler and being single. She told a delightful story about living alone and literally peeing her pants in fear one night over something very trivial. It called to me as a fellow single women and I thought I would share my own "scared single women in a big city" story. Believe me, it's good.
When I first moved to the city, a year ago my dad made a big deal out of ordering the top, police issued brand of Mace. He did a massive amount of research into tasers, pepper spray, and other self-defense tools and in the end determined that not only was this the most effective at incapacitating any intruder, mugger, etc. It also was the object that lasted the longest and thus gave me, his beloved eldest daughter the most time to escape.
When I was living all by myself in my large two bedroom apartment on the outskirts of town, there were many a night where I would fall asleep(literally) with my bottle of Mace clutched tightly in my hand as a security blanket. However, a couple of months ago when I ironically moved closer to downtown and in with a roommate, the trend stopped. The bottle still stayed but now it sat dusty on my nightstand. Still within reach but not in the same bed as me. An apt metaphor perhaps for my growing confidence and journey in this massive city.
So there it sat, at least until a couple of nights ago when the tipping point for this story occurred.
It's absurdly scary to wake up and not be able to breathe. The first thing you need to know is that I am not a morning person. Even awake on time I exist in a semi-groggy dream state until I hit the shower. My mind couldn't keep up but my body knew that my room was pitch dark and my chest was burning. The room was hot and the air was thick. I lay in my bed, still half asleep trying to draw in deep breathes before my mind registered panic. Can't breath! Need Oxygen! it screamed. And suddenly I was very much wide awake.
For a few milliseconds, I did actually think I was dying. My father has asthma and while I have never shown any severe signs of the disease. In my panicked mind I kept thinking "this is what it feels like to die from an asthma attack."
After my initial panic when I realized I was still alive and could still breathe as long as I didn't mind the deep coughs that went with each breath. I thought perhaps it might have been my pet's cages. Perhaps one of them had died overnight and the horrendous smell and oder was causing me to cough.
At this point I got up. I needed fresh air. I stumbled to the bathroom and my coughing fit seemed to die down a little. Maybe I'm just sick my still tired brain thought. And I actually stumbled my way back to bed where I promptly began coughing again!
By this point I had awakened my roommate who strolled into my room with two bottles of cough syrup. Took one step towards my bed and herself began coughing. At this point we both figured out something was up and started a mad dash around the house for the source of the smell/oder.
Garage can? Nope, just emptied it. Sink, nope. Pet cages. Nope, all still alive accounted for and while a little stinky...not that stinky! I retreated towards the living room and my roommate dug out a small fan to circulate the air in my room. One mad dash in, plug it in and run out! I also opened the windows and the front door and back door of our house.
It wasn't until two hours later that I even ventured back in and found the Mace canister lying underneath my bed halfway dispensed. I took a whiff of the dispenser opening and figured out that was the source real quick! That's Right! I Maced myself!
Needless to say, somehow the Mace fell off my nightstand hit the ground at the exactly precise point and dispensed some of the liquid inside my very, very small room.
Days later it's hilarous! Just another adventure in my roadtrip of life. But at the moment with a house that smelled like Mace all day, a nagging coughing feeling in my lungs, a su
rpirse discovery that my computer had been coated later that day, it wasn't very funny.But at least I guess I know that my dad was right. That stuff will stop you in your tracks! Watch out bad guys! You don't want to mess with my superhero persona Mace girl. I might even feel bad for you if she has to spray you with this stuff.
