A co-worker's hayfever

[AceUpYourSleeve]

I had the pleasure of witnessing a bunch of hayfever sneezes the last week. Luckily for her, she has no ‘bad’ case of allergy, it’s chiefly one symptom flaring up now and then: sneezing fits.

There was a non-scheduled meeting, some (who mostly were already there) partook in person, some via online conference. Our little business hit the digital age, yay! She and I did the former. Right as she came in, people asked if she had a cold (coming herself would’ve been so irresponsible then, considering our digital transmission), but she just gestured to a window. My co-worker’s allergy isn’t unknown here, so people understood quickly. It’s earlier for her than most years before due to this mild late winter.
She didn’t talk much because of her stuffy nose and when she did, the congestion was hard to miss. According to herself, she (now late thirties) has been living with hayfever for almost three decades. Still, it never changed—sneezing is her only prominent symptom, next to congestion.

Since our meeting was at short notice, her last dose of meds had been too long in the past to keep having an effect throughout the full session. Also, whoever furtively pushed open the doors and windows all the time, did her no good. Somebody once even yelled into the room that we please keep every damn thing shut for her sake.

That message finally worked 

The air inside made her sneeze on several occasions, though. Many were stifled in tissues. When another colleague offered to also refill her glass with water, she was close to sneeze right at the fellow but managed to veer away.
The worst (or best—it lies in the eye of the beholder) came in the shape of her famous fits—at least half a dozen sneezes in a row, certainly more. But definitely within 30 seconds. 
At some point, everyone stopped blessing her. Less attention seemed to be to her liking. I felt self-conscious and it wasn’t even me who people stared at.
Fascinatingly, all sneezes sounded identical, like DCHIAHOU (it looks so weird in written, but to hear them live was nice and dare I say melodic). They were unlike any I’ve ever listened to.

As we got an unexpected break when the internet connection lagged, she used this interval for blowing her nose. That ended the dry spell, she gave two wet, persistent nose blows, which led to her replacing the tissue after each one.

At the end, I asked her why she’d dragged herself here in the first place. Especially she could’ve profited from staying home while attending online. She was like “Honestly, no idea. The congestion kept me from thinking or whatever”.

[NoV]

On 3/18/2024 at 10:26 AM, AceUpYourSleeve said:

Fascinatingly, all sneezes sounded identical, like DCHIAHOU

That's a unique sounding sneeze for sure, but I can definitely know how that would sound. Certainly must have livened up the meeting  

[Heathcliff]

That was a gorgeous obs. I love your setting of the scene, and her sneeze does seem like it has a really interesting sound! 👍