I thought about it, but ...

[launderedlace]

A few days ago, I attended a meeting and then travelled home afterwards by train. Both in the meeting and on the train, I was talking to a woman who I know slightly: she is a handkerchief user. Twice, whilst we were discussing, she pulled a crumpled, plain, off-white handkerchief from her pocket and blew her nose into it fairly snottily. My impression was that the handkerchief wasn't off-white because it was dirty from recent over-use; I think it was likelier that it was an old, once pure-white handkerchief that had seen years of service but which hadn't been regularly bleached or otherwise whitened during its innumerable washings  

For a moment, I thought of offering one of my sparkling white, clean and folded handkerchiefs. However, reconsidering, I decided not to: the most probable outcome would have been to cause the woman unnecessary and unjustified embarrassment through seemingly criticising her. With hindsight, perhaps I should have flourished, shaken out the folds, and used one of my own handkerchiefs (as I often do, I was carrying several) to see whether there was any interest and response from the woman

Edited October 21, 2023 by launderedlace

[Hankysneeze]

Definitely an opportunity either for chivalry or handkerchief talk, thanks for sharing.

[launderedlace]

4 hours ago, Hankysneeze said:

Definitely an opportunity either for chivalry or handkerchief talk, thanks for sharing.

Yes, I certainly had the opportunity to do this 👇 and so create a chance to broaden the conversation, but I was too slow off the mark ... next time, maybe!

 

Edited October 23, 2023 by launderedlace

[Hankysneeze]

Another classic contribution, thankyou.

[Hankyrick]

Excellent observation and I would've offered her a clean handkerchief if I had one on me