Onions got ya' down? Chill.

From On Food and Cooking about onions and how to keep them from making you teary-eyed (emphasis added):

One sulfur product is produced in significant quantities online in the onion, shallot, leek, chive, and rakkyo: the "lacrimator," which causes our eyes to water. This volatile chemical escapes from the damaged onion into the air, and lands in the onion cutter's eyes and nose, where it apparently attacks nerve endings directly ... Its effects can be minimized by prechilling the onions for 30-60 minutes in ice water. 

Soaking them also makes the skin easier to remove as well.