Sneezes in lecture hall (F)

[aderyn]

Ah, university lecture halls. Since the dawn of time, the gift that keeps on sneezily giving.

I was in class the other day, behind-and-to-the-side of a fellow grad student I'll call "Chloe": she's in her mid-twenties, with short dark hair and glasses. I don't know her well, but she's extremely smart and seems like the shy adorkable type.

About halfway through the lecture or so, she sneezed a quiet single: "heh-mmp-chhhhhh…" -- that is, mostly stifled, then letting the air out softly. She covered with her left hand horizontally across her mouth, as she turned slightly to her left toward the empty seat next to her (the one in front of me). There was no vocalization in it, or anything I'd put an exclamation point on in transcription…it was very soft and gentle.

Toward the end of the lecture, Chloe sneezed once again, even more softly: "h'tsssss…" Like the first time, there was almost no visible or audible buildup, just a quick breath in and then the tiniest hiss of breath out. She covered exactly the same way again, turning to the side as she did before.

I would guess that these were random sneezes, rather than a cold or allergies; she didn't seem congested or sniffly at all, and her voice didn't sound any different than usual (as far as I could tell). The weather had been cold earlier in the week, and then it had gotten hot again, so the air conditioning was on in the building that day and hadn't been before. Everyone was dressed for the hot weather outside rather than the air-conditioned indoors, and sitting through a two-hour lecture in there was almost uncomfortably cold…maybe Chloe is one of those people who sneeze in cold temperatures?

Nobody blessed either of Chloe's sneezes; maybe nobody else around her even heard, as they were paying too much attention to the lecture. I, of course, have a particular bias in that regard, so I tend to notice such things, but I'm too shy to bless anyone ever, so that wasn't happening. It's also possible that someone else did hear her, but guessed that if Chloe was trying to keep her sneezes quiet, she didn't want anyone to notice or acknowledge them. It's less likely than the first hypothesis (and now that I've written it out, it totally reads like bizarre fetishist-logic), but in a way it's still kind of sweet to think about: deviating from the usual course of action because you're worried that someone might be embarrassed. But now I'm just projecting all over the people in this story who are not me, so I'll stop there.

[Heathcliff]

That's a nice observation. It does bring back memories for me, of college lecture theatres, one of the places you are guaranteed to hear many sneezes! It's not unexpected, but as a fetishist you can't stop yourself noticing.

I've found the same thing working in an office, where it's generally a quiet environment, so sneezes tend to be very noticeable.