However dramatic, getting gassed is a walk in the park next to being battered with sticks. It's over soon enough and rarely lands you in hospital.
You're bound to get the jitters before your first time but I always say, "Stick together. No matter how scared, you're safer with us in the fog than getting trapped, alone, in some side alley trying to escape the action."
If you made me to choose I'd plump for chocolates and flowers, but once you're under water you have to learn to swim.