Spring has sprung here in Charleston, well sort of? Spring seems to show up on the weekends when it is sunny and warm out but then during the week we return to cold, rainy, wintery-ish weather. My point is that my allergies are RAGING. I mean the itchy watery eyes, I just went through an entire box of tissues, no cocktail of allergy medicine does a thing for me kind of RAGING. No, I am not exaggerating.

So after work I convinced myself that going to CVS and buying another form of allergy relief was going to allow me some sleep. Rather than fight traffic and go to my usual pharmacy in the nicer area of downtown, I decided to hit the one closer to my house in a (how do I say this sweetly?) sketchier part of town.

As soon as I walked in, I spotted the nearly picked over display of Zyrtec, Allegra, Claratin and other various remedies. My eye was on the Benadryl. Flipping over the package I made sure that this was in fact the ‘make you drowsy’ kind of Benadryl. Under the Warnings it said ‘do not use to make a child sleepy.’ BINGO! It was exactly what I was looking for!

But before I could make my way to the counter to pay a gentleman was whispering behind me.
“Excuse me. Can I ask you something,” he asked.
“Yes, Sir.”
“What are you doing later, little midget?”
I had two choices: walk away or stand up for myself. He wasn’t getting away with this one.
“My name is Kristen. I am going home.”
“Where does the little midget live?” (Now I was not only creeped out but also getting angrier by the second.)
“Sir, that isn’t a nice word.”
“But that’s what you are.”
“No. My name is Kristen. I am a little person.”
At this point he looked at me, almost shocked by my answer. So I just turned to walk away. But he was relentless…
“Let’s go somewhere.”
As I continued to walk towards the register I said, very loudly, over my shoulder, “No thank you, sir.”

Walking out of CVS, Benadryl in hand, I took a deep breath and made a very audible exhale. In my head, I repeated to myself…

You are confident. You are strong. You are perfect just the way you are. Don’t let anyone convince you otherwise.

Love.