I've been sitting at my desk, working my way through the stack of bills and change-of-address forms that have piled up since the move. Near the bottom of the pile was a bill from Saks for my charge card. The second I picked it up, I could smell the perfume strip inside. Why do they do this?

I'm chemically sensitive to perfume. It's not an allergy, but it's similar. I break out in rashes and itch all over and my breathing gets wheezy. The only exception is the Givenchy perfume I've worn off and on since my teens; I must have a tolerance built up by now. But other scents? It's an ugly reaction, people.

I had a perfume incident a few years ago, waiting for a charge slip at a department store downtown. About ten feet away was a big display of perfume samples. A middle-aged man, clearly mentally ill and probably homeless, was spraying a shot or two of each sample on his wrists. I tried not to breathe and willed the saleswoman to come back with the slip so I could sign it and get the hell out of there. By the time she returned, my face and neck were bright red and itchy.

"Oh my GOD! Look at YOU!"

No, I was thinking, please don't.

"You poor THING! Are you OKAY?"

Do I look okay? "I have a hard time with --"

"Perfume, oh, you poor thing, let me call Security." And she did, and the man was escorted out by a guy who could have been a linebacker with the Patriots. Which didn't change my situation. I signed the slip, avoided eye contact on the way home, stuffed my clothes in my laundry basket and took a shower.

I'm a little more careful now. So why do the stores send perfume to my home in envelopes I have to open?

I'll find out who's in charge at Saks and send him or her a registered letter requesting that perfume samples not be enclosed in bills. And we'll see.

But meanwhile, I scrubbed my hands clean and I still feel itchy.