“You’re breathing like Darth Vader,” my mom said as she drove me to the emergency room.

I did not know it yet, but I was having an allergy-induced asthma attack. My eyes were red and puffy, and snot was dripping from my little six-year-old nose. 

Ever since then, spring has been spoiled for me. Pollen causes my eyes to swell shut, and near-constant sneezing accompanies it, making it extremely difficult to enjoy the warm weather.

I grew up in Portland and thought I lived in the worst place for pollen allergies ever. That is, until I moved to Eugene. 

My seasonal allergies in Eugene are insane. 

I’m not alone. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, about a quarter of adults and a fifth of children in the United States suffer from seasonal pollen allergies.

This widespread health issue is felt across the Willamette Valley and the country. 

Unfortunately for University of Oregon students affected by pollen allergies, Linn County, which neighbors Lane County, is known as “the grass seed capital of the world.” UO’s proximity to Linn County causes the grass pollen count to be significantly higher in spring. 

According to the Oregon Allergy Associates, “Rain early in the grass season can cause grass pollen to fragment into small pieces, which can cause increased allergy and asthma symptoms.”

This means that the grass pollen count in Lane County can get into the high and very high range because of our late rains. 

Charles Martindale is a Spanish and journalism double major at UO who suffers from seasonal pollen allergies. He explained his symptoms to me. 

“I opened my window last night, and when I woke up, my face was super puffy and my nose was running like crazy,” Martindale said. “I used a ton of tissues.”

Like many of us, he has to choose to stay inside to escape the pollen or live normally while enduring his symptoms. It sucks.

This year, my attitude changed a bit. I found out about the grass seed industry, which gives Linn County its nickname as the “grass seed capital of the world.” 

The Willamette Valley is the perfect place for grass seed farming due to our wet and mild winters. With more than 420,000 acres devoted to grass seed farming in the Willamette Valley alone, this has a substantial impact on our economy.

The grass seed industry in Oregon also employs about 10,000 people and generates about $1 billion in economic activity for the state. 

While 10,000 jobs might not seem like a ton, Oregon had a 4.6% unemployment rate in March of this year. This gave Oregon the 12th-highest unemployment rate in the United States. 

Reducing the amount of land available for the grass seed industry would only cause that number to rise. 

For David White, a junior business major, the employment opportunities and economic activity don’t matter when it comes to his allergies. 

“My allergies piss me off,” White said. “It’s a detriment to my everyday life.”

Believe me, it pains me to say our allergies are a necessary cost for other people to make money, but if it means jobs for 10,000 people, I’d say it’s justified. 

I think that Martindale put it well.

“I don’t think I would personally choose to put the grass seed industry over my allergies, but if the wheels are already in motion, I won’t knock their hustle.”

As for remedies, I recommend finding an allergy medicine that suits you best. When I consistently take allergy medicine, both in pill form and nasal spray, my symptoms significantly decrease. 

For me, Zyrtec and Flonase are my saving graces; they have allowed me to have a relatively symptom-free spring so far this year.

Grass seed is an integral part of this region, so instead of suffering through this pollen season, let’s find ways to cope.