MY ADVENTURE WITH PEPPER SPRAY

Working third shift at the hotel had its advantages. My hearing loss wasn’t really an issue, as all I really needed to do was make sure all went smoothly. But it also became very difficult to stay awake. It was boring! I had to find things to do to amuse myself.

A week prior, a friend and I had been discussing a local mugging in the neighborhood. She had told me that there was someone going around, preying on younger women (which I was, at the time). I was very disturbed by this, as I had to walk to and from my car very late at night and very early in the morning. To help me feel safer, she purchased a can of pepper spray and told me how to work it.

As I sat, hunched over, at the front desk at the hotel, I had to do something. My drool from falling asleep was starting to destroy the paperwork beneath. Words were starting to blur from the lake of saliva I was pouring onto it. I decided to find something to occupy myself. That’s when I thought of my new pepper spray. So, I reached into my purse and pulled it out.

I wonder what this stuff smells like, anyway. I mean, how can a spray that smells like pepper be so detrimental to the person I spray it on. Surely it won’t do much damage. And, besides, I’ll bet it smells nothing like pepper. Riiiiight……

I decided to solve the mystery myself, that night at the hotel. So I did what any “intelligent” person would do. I didn’t just go and spray myself in the face. That would be silly. Instead, I sprayed a bit on the wall and walked away for a minute to let it dry.

Sixty seconds later, I walked back up to the spot on the wall and took a long, hard sniff.

“AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH My eyes! My eyes!” With my arms flailing madly in the air, I proceeded to run around in circles in the lobby, screaming in agony and praying I didn’t run into anything, because I was completely blinded.

I was right. It did not smell like pepper.

The scar tissue on my retina and my singed nose hairs should be healed in about another decade.

Moral of the story: If you’re bored and you have a can of pepper spray…read a book.

"SO, LIKE, WHAT CAN DEAF PEOPLE DO, ANYWAY?"

From time to time, people have asked me what kinds of jobs deaf and hard of hearing people can have. Seems many people can’t seem to fathom that a deaf person would be just as employable and beneficial to a job as a hearing person would. Is it that difficult to see that we’re just like hearing people…only without the sound? Never underestimate a person just because they can’t hear you. In most cases, all other faculties work just fine. But I’ll save the “intelligence” conversation for another time.

Fact is, “deaf people can do anything hearing people can, except hear.” That phrase was coined by the first deaf president of Gallaudet University (the only liberal arts university specifically for deaf and hard of hearing students), and is very true. There are deaf individuals in almost all occupations out there…doctors, nurses, lawyers, athletes, entertainers, pilots, architects, veterinarians, administrators, entrepreneurs, journalists, teachers, scientists…everything. The only job skill that would be a huge problem for a deaf worker would be answering the phone.

Here are a few sites specifically created for deaf and hard of hearing workers:

Association of Medical Professionals With Hearing Loss

A resource for Deaf / hard of hearing lawyers and law students


Deaf Pilots Association


Deaf Entertainment Guild


USA Deaf Sports Federation

If you're a deaf or hard of hearing person, take a moment to comment and tell the world your occupation or job and why you do it just as well as (or better than) anyone else.