Don't Mess with Pepper Spray!

A funny incident occurred last night here in our house...

I had been unpacking a few boxes from the garage (the never-ending process of unpacking!) and had collected a pile of items to ask Jeff about--should we throw the stuff away, give it away, keep it, etc. One of the items was a small, old canister of pepper spray, the kind you might put on a key ring to use if attacked. Because it was so old and had been in storage while we were in Israel, Jeff decided to spray a little to see if there was anything in it...so he went over to the kitchen sink and sprayed just a tiny bit in the sink. Well, it worked! Within seconds, he and I were both coughing up a storm. I escaped to the living room and pulled my sweater up over my mouth and nose; he went out onto the porch to get some fresh air. That stuff was strong! It got into our lungs and would not get out. Even after we drank some water and brushed our teeth and inhaled a Vicks inhaler and went upstairs to bed, we still had to fight to not cough. I'm so grateful that I wasn't actually sprayed by it because I know the pain from the burning of it can be extreme...but my goodness, simply inhaling a tiny portion of vapors was enough for us!

We all know the saying: don't play with matches. But I learned another one last night: don't play with pepper spray!!!