My housemate's dust allergy

[Heathcliff]

Time for another hanky obs I guess

My housemate that I lived with last year would always carry a handkerchief- he must have been brought up with hankies, as he was never embarrassed to be seen using his. He's 26, and is a graduate student like me.

I often saw his hankies drying on the washing line- they were all pale blue- mostly plain, but he had some monogrammed with his initial, and some 'day of the week' handkerchiefs.

He was allergic to pollen and dust, so he sneezed quite a lot. His sneezes were quite gentle for a man's- not at all the roaring or explosive sneezes that some men do.

One weekend I was talking to him in the kitchen, while making coffee. He'd just finished dusting his room, but showed no signs yet that the dust was irritating his nose. Suddenly, he turned and sneezed "Het-choo!" with the "choo!" almost spoken. He covered his nose with one hand, and sneezed another "Het-choo!" while pulling his blue hanky out of his pocket.

He held the handkerchief, completely unfolded, over his nose with one hand. He kept sneezing- now with the characteristic hanky-muffled sound that's hard to spell, but something like: "Hah-PSHHMPH!"

As his dust allergy kicked in, he just stood with the hanky over his nose, with an incredibly itchy expression, sneezing every few seconds. After about a minute, and at least ten sneezes, he gave a quiet one-handed blow into his hanky, and replaced it in his pocket, looking rather exhausted from the sneezing fit.

Hope you enjoyed!

[allergyboy2001]

Great observation!

[weevill25]

i think it is an understatement to say that your friend's sneezes are FABULOUS!!!

haha lucky.

[March Hare]

Mmmmmmmmmmm.... Oh yes, I enjoyed this, all right :) There is something so endearing/hot about a man who uses handkerchiefs... especially blue ones... heh, fond memories

Thanks for sharing this!

[VoOs]

Ohhh, very yummy indeed. Great obs, thanks for sharing!

[Heathcliff]

There is something so endearing/hot about a man who uses handkerchiefs...

I agree! Even though I'm more into female sneezes, I really enjoy seeing men sneezing into handkerchiefs.

It's a combination of the sneezes being powerful and uncontrollable- but the man trying to be polite and contain them inside the thin folds of his hanky... very nice!

When I saw my housemate's blue hankies drying on the washing line, I used to imagine how many sneezes each one had caught over the years- must have been hundreds!