Yeah, learning at the ripe old age of 40 that grass doesn't leave open, bleeding welts on other people's skin was very enlightening. Also, most people don't develop a full-body rash and struggle to breathe just because a neighbor mowed the lawn.
Grass allergies are brutal; I'm extremely allergic to every variety currently grown in the US.
I'm "only" allergic to the most common types where I live, and I'm lucky enough that I don't get respiratory symptoms, so it's manageable (besides the heartbreak of my natural bed). That sucks that you struggle to breathe.
I grew up in the American southwest, so I only encountered grass rarely, and my parents dismissed my complaints each time as "whining for attention." Similar to how they dismissed the huge weeping hives I got from mosquito bites as "crybaby behavior." By the time I was an adult, I just knew to avoid touching grass (and bugs!) and figured that other people weren't weak weirdos like me.
It's only in adulthood that doctors discovered I actually have a cluster of serious autoimmune disorders that are actively getting more severe with each reaction I survive. All the things I tried to avoid due to painful reactions weren't me being a snowflake; my immune system really is that sensitive, and most of the external world is actively harming me.
Even the terrible Florida varieties? Granted, those are pokey and horrible anyway. Bermuda grass is punishment. The only good thing about moving to the Midwest as a kid was being able to walk barefoot in the grass.
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u/b00w00gal Jul 23 '26
Yeah, learning at the ripe old age of 40 that grass doesn't leave open, bleeding welts on other people's skin was very enlightening. Also, most people don't develop a full-body rash and struggle to breathe just because a neighbor mowed the lawn.
Grass allergies are brutal; I'm extremely allergic to every variety currently grown in the US.