Three short obs from work (F)

[Heathcliff]

I was sitting in a seminar in my department. The young woman sitting in front of me wore a dark blue patterned headscarf. She was repeatedly blowing her nose into tissues; it sounded quite loud relative to the quiet audience of the talk. She raised her hands, prayer-like, and I noticed her cheek grow taut. She stayed like that for a couple of seconds; I just stared, I knew what was going to happen... would it be quiet, given that we were sitting in a seminar? No- she sneezed a harsh "Hah-ISHH-ooh!" into her hands. The speaker continued to talk and no-one acknowledged the sneeze.

In the seminar again, but on a different day- a grad student, with very straight blonde hair, full lips, and a large, pretty nose. I had noticed her accent, and I think she is French. I heard a quiet "Hih-Umphh!" during the talk, and before I could restrain myself I glanced round. I saw the blonde girl looking slightly red in the face, and rubbing her beautiful big nose with one finger... definitely a stifled sneeze.

My last is not really an obs at all. Another grad student, a mid-twenties girl with light brown untidy hair, and brilliant pale blue eyes. She wore a checkered shirt, almost like a man's shirt- she looked a bit like the stereotype geeky girl who 'just doesn't know how cute she is'. She was talking to me about a conference she went to a couple of years ago. "I went to the first two days, but I had a cold- I suppose I could have gone to the last day, but I was already disturbing people. You know- I was sniffling and sneezing in the lectures..." There was something adorable about hearing her say the word 'sneezing'...

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[blum]

Thanks for sharing