It’s finally happened. The thing you sought to escape has appeared in multiple forms on the morning you thought would be fine and allergy free. The first sign is the car cloaked in that near invisible dusty powder of sinus-clogging yellow; pollen. The next sign? The leafy green that has sprung up seemingly over night. A tree you thought long dead has given bloom to that thing which you hate the most. It has defied the tree service in Queens NY to give new life of green and vibrant, gnarled brown as if in defiance to your personal, deepest hope of being free from hay fever. I’m there with you, I understand the pain that is sinus pressure caving in your skull every morning. I know the horror which causes an allergy sufferer to recoil when they reach out to the car door handle only to discover that murderous dust coating everything.

Some of us suffer from severe hay fever ever year despite the wonders of allergy shots. I hate to think the sort of pain that I would be forced to go through every single day if these shots didn’t curtail the worst of the hay fever. The sneezing. The coughing. The runny nose, red and swollen eyes. This is no way to live a life so if there must be a choice between my healthy and a tree? The tree is what goes. As far as I’m concerned the tree is only a product for me to consume. It’s the paper that fills my books. It’s the logs that I burn for winter or for simple, pure malicious pleasure. It’s petty. It’s small but it’s a thing that gives me pleasure. After living my entire life up to this point under the cloud of pollen induced hay fever, I’ll take my petty revenge anyway that I can.