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My first day on the job at the gas station, my mom gifted me pepper spray and a Taser. She handed them to me, all bare and without much formality, before I left.
“You’re probably not supposed to have these on you, so make sure you keep them hidden,” she told me. “It will just make me feel better if you have them.”
I gave a slight smile to her and mumbled a thank you. I pulled out the safety plastic tabs from their pink ridges, and, before I could test them out, Mom started to explain how to use them to me.
“You twist the cap off of the pepper spray like this,” she said, taking the pepper spray from me and turning its head. “And then you push down on this red button right here. Make sure the button is always facing you. The last thing you’ll want to do is spray yourself.”
