How long?!

I walked into the ladies restroom at work this afternoon and was slammed into the wall by the smell coming at me. I walked into the only available stall. I immediately set to work pulling toilet paper strips off to cover the seat and nonchalantly glanced over my shoulder to see if the air freshener was blinking on red. (Red means it is out which would make sense for the odor that seemed to be hanging in the air.)

However, that once glance answered my question that it was in fact still full of air freshener. I threw out a silent plea with my eyes to the air freshener and willed it to spray another fresh breath of air into the restroom for I thought I was going to choke. I tried to minimize the amount of air I was taking in at the moment and I decided to see how long I could hold my breath.

I practically sucked my lips into my face during the process of trying not to breathe and when I made it to the sink to wash up I glanced in the mirror. I'd turned my lips purple!

I let down my guard and unclenched my lips. I took a breath of air. I figured the damage had already been done. What's the point of holding your breath when you can't even smell the "odor" anymore? You know it's still there, yet you just can't smell it.

Oh the joys of the 2:00 break.