Zurueck

[Gruft]

Here I am, in a half empty 737, at 30 odd thousand feet, the man up front has his boot down, life is peachy. I’ve got my eye on a couple of young ladies in the seats opposite, who look like they might have over indulged in the snowman making at the weekend, but so far nothing doing. Still, time to sit back and chill, there are a few sneezes every now and again from someplace towards the back, but after this weekend, it takes more than the odd echo to impress me.

The guy next to me has fallen asleep, so I feel take some time to look around, and see one of the pair sat opposite has her right hand clamped across her mouth, and that look on her face that makes me smile. She is about 28, with a heavy black coat, slightly reddened face, and shoulder length dark hair. Not really my type, but no one is perfect A couple of seconds and it comes, short and sharp; a good sneeze to clear her head, almost like a cough, but through the whole of her body. A pause, then another, simple, quick, no messing, she looks at her friend and giggles, and they are back wittering about shoes or something. I go back to remembering a particularly fine coffee in Berlin.

Time passes, with the odd sneeze, just enough to keep me awake. I’m sure I can smell something, faintly, a light musk, or, … is it pepper? It is, I can smell pepper, faintly, but its there, as if someone has spilt a couple of teaspoons of fine white pepper into the air-con. It can’t be, can it?

Well, whatever, I must be tired, it must be someone’s perfume, or cleaning fluid or something.

Someone sneezed, 3 rows ahead, just to my right, I didn’t really see, but I know who it was, it was the guy with black hair. And it is pepper, why can I smell pepper on a plane? They didn’t even give us pepper with the sandwiches, so how did it get into the air?

The old guy sat just to my right, slightly in front, raises his fist in front of his mouth and sneezes, softly. Not much to it, his body jerks, almost silently. And then someone just behind me sneezes, and I’m starting to giggle.

The old guy is sneezes again, with more and more people joining in. Even the cute readhead a few seats back gives a nice drawn out ssssshhhhhh.

I cant believe what is happening, why is there so much pepper in the air, on a BA flight, that half the passengers are sneezing and no-one except me seems to have noticed?

I’ve got my hand on my forehead covering my eyes, laughing so hard that I have tears rolling down my cheeks, thinking of one of us up the front with a smuggled tub of pepper, with the ghost of Troeterin whispering a running commentary in my ear.

The perfect ending to a perfect weekend.

[Geist]

Heh, is this a work of fiction or an actual event? Either way, I loved it!

[Gruft]

its true

[MaxBiaggi2]

Good for you! We should all be so fortunate during our travels. I'll have to hope for such an opportunity in my future.

[Enkidom]

Lol...now there is a trick and no mistake....excellent obs mate! Thanks for posting it! . Are you sure you hadn't fallen asleep too...lol?!

[SeaHeart]

The perfect ending to a perfect weekend.

I'll say!... So glad you had a wonderful weekend, and thanks for sharing.. May all of your voyages be as exciting..

Thanks for the obs!

Eveberry

[Geist]

Wow! I've only been on a plane a few times, but boy would I laugh if that happened to me!

Okay, so which one of us did it. . .come on, now....fess up.......

[atchoum]

You're dead right, Gruft! Planes are excellent places to observe sneezes. And as I have been from France to Australia and back (24 hours each way), I can guarantee that you see practically everyone around you sneeze at least once - interesting enough in itself.

On the way back, the most remarkable sneezer was female. It's a long long night from just after Sydney until you hit Europe, so you can't see most of the time. But three times during that long night I heard four female sneezes coming from somewhere behind me - full sneezes, one after the other, quite regularly (and just how many people do you know who regularly sneeze isn fours ? Two doubles is unusual but I do know people who do it often, but fours straight off... ?) Anyway, when the lights were turned on again and people emerging from their slumber (often accompanied by sneezes - ah ! those morning sneezers !) I heard the four sneezes again - looked round - a woman in her early twenties, travelling with husband/boyfriend. But she went on sneezing, first in twos then singly until she asked her husband/boyfriend to go and get some kleenex. She finished the fit (15 or 16 sneezes in all) before he got back, but it was quite a wake-up !

[Mr Sneezy]

Hey Atchoum. Sounds like a lady friend of mine who I have posted about before. She can sneeze up to twelve times or more in a natural fit. Thirty or more if she induces with lavender powder.

But you're right. Public transport from the city bus or train right up to planes are top places to casually observe sneezers.