It was Thanksgiving Day, 2004 I think…. maybe 2003. Doesn’t matter. Anyway….. The whole family gathered at my in-laws house for dinner. Everyone was sitting down at the table and I got up to go do something. Lord knows what it was but I hope it was something good. As I was walking back to the table, I went through the hallway and noticed a small puddle on the floor. One of the dogs had had an accident. Not wanting to bother ma and pa Trudell, I decided to take care of it before anyone saw it. I went into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle that looked like it had lemons on it figuring it was a simple cleaner (the accident was on a concrete floor).
I tipped the bottle upide down and out flowed its contents. I poured enough to really dilute the urine that was on the floor. It wasn’t until I got knocked on my rear end from the fumes that I realized what I had grabbed was a bottle of ammonia. Immediately not able to breathe, I ran back into the kitchen, eyes tearing, trying to grab as much paper towel as I could from the roll. I ran back, smothered the liquid on the floor through the tears that were pouring out of my eyes and the river of snot flowing from my nose. By then, the smell had wafted into the dining area and I was no longer alone in my suffering.
First out of the dining room was my husband, Micah, asking what had happened while the rest of the family ran around opening windows and doors. I told him what I had done and through laughs, he helped me clean up, although the majority of it was soaked up and already out the front door.
As I walked around cleaning up what was left, I realized my eyes weren’t calming down. I couldn’t see straight at all. Everything was blurry. I went out onto the back porch to get some fresh air hoping that would help. Micah, sitting back down at the table and feeling a mild effect from the ammonia along with everyone else, began singing the song “She blinded me with Science” substituting the word “Science” with “Ammonia”. Noticing I hadn’t come back in yet, he came out on the porch to get me and found me crying.
Standing on the porch it had become very evident that I had in fact blinded myself with ammonia.
Flush after flush gave no relief. It wasn’t until early on in the new year that my sight actually returned to normal during the day. I couldn’t drive for a while after the accident at all, and now to this day it just gives me problems at night.
So lesson to be learned? Pretend you didn’t see the pee.
give smiles for miles 