I just read a new story about the Miami internation airport being evacuated because of people getting sick there. Said that people were coughing, gagging, runny noses and burning, itchy eyes. Said someone found a pepper spray can empty on the floor somewhere and that the symptoms of the people were the same as what happens when people get sprayed or are near pepper spray.

To be honest, I began laughing at the story. Not because I'm a sicko and like seeing people gag and be in discomfort. But it made me think back to the fall of 92, about 10 years ago. I was in the caferteria of Northeast Community College sitting at a table with about eight friends. We were pretty much done eating but still hanging around talking before afternoon classes started. I was playing around with a friends keyring. She kept telling me to be careful because she had this pepper spray thing on there. I wondered what this pepper spray stuff was. She explained that it is what lots of girls were carrying around now to spray on would be attackers. Supposed to sorta like a mace spray. But it was in a little, dinky can about the size of chapstick.

So I didn't think much of it, but I was fiddling around with the keys and all, flipping them back and forth over my hand. I'd had it in my lap, under the table when all of a sudden I thought I'd accidentally hit the spray nozzel. So I slid the keys back accross the table really quickly to my friend. Then I tried to look really innocent.... But all of a sudden it started happening.

The whole left side of our table started blinking and coughing. Then the table next to us, then the tables behind them. And then to where all the football players sat, and on to the trey return area. Soon, half of the caferteria was coughing and and wheezing and rubbing eyes and leaving. I thought, surely not from a half of a squirt from this little can. I mean, I didn't even hold it down to spray it.

But I got really worried and left quickly. I later found out that some school administrators were wanting to find out who had done that (along with some big, husky football players) but my friends were loyal and didn't turn me in. The crazy thing was, I was right there ontop of it, and I never smelled a thing....