Guest Keller Posted February 8, 2005 Share Posted February 8, 2005 I haven’t been able to post topics until now, but here’s an obs I’ve been dying to share…I work in a university library. (Note: a university library is a GREAT place to work if you want to observe sneezes…and especially if you like to see people try to stifle them or try not to sneeze.) About two months ago, I was given a whole bunch of gift books to process, many of which were particularly old…dusty, moldy… (I don’t have any allergies myself . Many of my coworkers do, however. Unfortunately, I am more into male sneezing, and most of my coworkers are female…)Anyway, I came in to work one morning, and my computer was completely freaking out on me. Programs would open automatically when I didn’t want them to, and programs I wanted open would get stuck… after a moment of panic ( OMG, I did a Google search on allergies the other day…if I call someone in systems, will they find it, even if I cleared my history?), I determined that I absolutely HAD to get someone to fix this machine.Now, most of the systems librarians are nice, but not really my type. However, there was one NEW systems guy who started in September who is…hot. Tall, dark hair, best smile, quiet type… nearly all of the single female under 40 librarians have been checking him out. On the one hand, I wanted him to come fix my computer. On the other hand…what if he found something he shouldn’t? (I am extremely paranoid about anyone finding out about this fetish, and also not really good with what goes on “under the hood” of computers…so I generally clear histories, and NEVER download anything or listen to .wavs at work)So…fifteen minutes after I call systems…yep, HE shows up. After a brief chit-chat, he starts to click around on my computer, as I stand by, paralyzed. Please please please don’t let there be anything in there about the fetish. I can feel my heart pounding, and hope to God that he can’t hear it. Click. Click click click. Thump. Thump thump thump.And then…out of nowhere… “KKTSSCHHOO!”His hands flew about a foot above the keyboard and mouse as his head jerked down, chin in his chest, his body rocking back in the chair with the force of the sneeze. I was stunned for a moment, and the thought occurred to me to maybe bless him (although I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have been able to say anything)… …but he wasn’t done yet… His breath started hitching, the pre-sneeze expression building as he brought the side of his hand under his nose…Apparently, it didn’t help. “Huh…Heh-KTSCHHHH! Huh-TCHHHOOOO! HEIKKTTSCHH!” He turned away from me and began sneezing out of control. And I mean…out of control. After about nine, he stood up and stumbled away towards the restroom, his body pitching forward with sneezes every few steps… co-workers peering out of their cubicles asking “are you okay?” Not that he could answer.As for me, I was… ummm…. I thought my heart was beating fast earlier??? I was only disappointed that I couldn’t follow him into the men’s restroom. He did return, about ten minutes later, with a substantial quantity of toilet paper in hand and a rather red, irritated-looking nose. He apologized sheepishly for the sneezing attack (like I minded…although his contrition was awfully charming) and resumed work on my computer…for about three minutes. And then…“Oh f***, not again…hhehhhh…HEHRR-KKKTCHHHHuhhh!”The sneeze was even bigger than the ones before. “Ughh. I am seriously allergic to something around here—probably the books there,” he said just before blowing his nose.“Somewhat unfortunate if you work in a library,” I commented, which elicited that great smile of his, the corners of his (slightly red) eyes crinkling with laughter.He sniffed, and looked like he might respond to that comment, but sneezed again instead: another full-body HAETTSCCHHHHHhhhuhhh! Sniffing again, he rubbed at his nose, mumbling, “This is really bad. I’m going to be doing this all day now…” before blowing his nose yet again.Meanwhile, I’m pretty sure that all of my internal organs have melted into some kind of jelly soup… He tried to work on the computer for about ten more minutes, sneezing about every thirty seconds, before finally shaking his head and saying that he wasn’t going to be able to fix my computer—he’d have someone else come and do it—that he was real sorry, his allergies were just too bad…probably the dust…or the mold…or something…-----------------So he left, and another systems guy eventually fixed my computer. No, they didn’t find anything that I was fearing they might find…just some spyware from an unknown source. The upshot: the allergy attack was a great excuse to talk to the guy the next time I saw him—all I had to do was ask “feeling better today?” to get a huge (somewhat embarrassed) smile. We’ve had several friendly conversations since. (Nothing romantic—he’s engaged to someone else) That’s okay…he made up for saying he’s engaged by also saying “yeah…sorry about the other day…so embarrassing…I have terrible allergies…just wait until the spring…” Oh, I will. I will. Link to comment
SusieQusie Posted February 8, 2005 Share Posted February 8, 2005 GREAT obs! Wow...speechless. Link to comment
Empathic Mystery Posted February 8, 2005 Share Posted February 8, 2005 Omg!!-Fans herself.- What a delicious experience! Thank you so much for writing about it so we could read. He sounds so adorable. I love it when guys are embarrassed about their sneezes. It adds to the heplessness that I adore. Please keep us updated, especially when the spring comes!~Me~ Link to comment
Lynne Posted February 8, 2005 Share Posted February 8, 2005 wow...... In a way though, I feel really bad for the poor guy. I know how embarassing it is to not be able to control your allergies at work. I try to make sure I always have lots of kleenex and anti-histamines in my desk, but it's still bloody embarassing to sit there sneezing for 10 minutes straight when one of the idiot bubble-heads from the back office come in wearing too much perfume (which is pretty much daily, sadly)... Most of the time I have to turn my switchboard station off and walk out of our area so as to not disturb my co-workers on their calls. It's annoying to me and to them *sigh*.Sorry, didn't mean to thread-jack Very nice obs hopefully he'll just take it as a matter of course and stick around! (yes, libraries are GREAT places... I might just decide to go back to my roots as a library tech....) Link to comment
Guest Keller Posted February 8, 2005 Share Posted February 8, 2005 wow...... In a way though, I feel really bad for the poor guy. I know how embarassing it is to not be able to control your allergies at work. I try to make sure I always have lots of kleenex and anti-histamines in my desk, but it's still bloody embarassing to sit there sneezing for 10 minutes straight when one of the idiot bubble-heads from the back office come in wearing too much perfume (which is pretty much daily, sadly)... Most of the time I have to turn my switchboard station off and walk out of our area so as to not disturb my co-workers on their calls. It's annoying to me and to them *sigh*.Sorry, didn't mean to thread-jack Very nice obs hopefully he'll just take it as a matter of course and stick around! (yes, libraries are GREAT places... I might just decide to go back to my roots as a library tech....)<{POST_SNAPBACK}>Oh, I totally felt bad for him, too......but only after I'd come back to my senses Link to comment
atchoum Posted February 8, 2005 Share Posted February 8, 2005 Wonderful obs !I was just thinking that allergy time is still a long way off - but for some people, it can be any time ! Thanks for this burst of spring ! Link to comment
tma Posted February 8, 2005 Share Posted February 8, 2005 *melts into puddle of goo*Oh- that was just mmmmmmm...... Loved it.thanks Link to comment
Unfettered Moth Posted February 8, 2005 Share Posted February 8, 2005 i want that guy to be my sex slave! that would kick ass! Link to comment
vignette Posted February 8, 2005 Share Posted February 8, 2005 *jaw drops* wow. that was... amazing. i feel bad for the poor guy, but i can imagine how incredibly sexy that must have been. Link to comment
pirate_wench Posted February 8, 2005 Share Posted February 8, 2005 Oh wow!!! This has been such a great obs!! Thank you for sharing, thank you so much! Awesome! I'd love to have such an obs, too, hahaha Link to comment
Feta Sneeze Posted February 8, 2005 Share Posted February 8, 2005 this is just one of the many reasons to bring a tape recorder everywhere you go...(other reasons being in case i have an idea for my book im writing, or in case my teacher's lecture is too awfully boring...etc. etc.) Link to comment
Guest ever_so_clever Posted February 9, 2005 Share Posted February 9, 2005 wow, amazing obs You're very lucky. ^__^ Link to comment
Guest Keller Posted February 9, 2005 Share Posted February 9, 2005 this is just one of the many reasons to bring a tape recorder everywhere you go...(other reasons being in case i have an idea for my book im writing, or in case my teacher's lecture is too awfully boring...etc. etc.)<{POST_SNAPBACK}>Not sure if I'd ever have the guts to ever record someone else's sneezes... that crosses the invisible line for me Tragic Update!!! (Memo went out this afternoon)Due to renovations to the library slated for summer, many departments within the library are going to be re-located to temporary offices in April or early May. Now, originally, the cataloging and processing department (where I work) and the systems department (where he works) were going to be re-located to the same building. I was SOOO looking forward to this because right now, my department is in the basement and his is on the first floor, so I never see (or hear) him on a day-to-day basis. (Just that one...excellent...sample in late November...which you all now know about. ) The proposed temporary location for cataloging and systems was in a... cozy... space, with both departments sharing one open-space room (former dining hall).But it turns out that they mis-calculated the amount of space that would be needed by each department, (yeah, they somehow forgot that the entire acquisitions section was added to the cataloging and processing department last year) and so one of the the new proposals is that we should be in two different buildings.NOOOOOO!!!!!!They are looking into other options, though. Just keep your fingers crossed for me (and if you want more obs, for you) Link to comment
Victoria Posted February 9, 2005 Share Posted February 9, 2005 Great obs! Here's hoping that your departments end up in the same space!! Keep us posted. Link to comment
Lady Tori Posted February 9, 2005 Share Posted February 9, 2005 Great obs, Keller! You have a real knack for writing. Please share it with us more often! Link to comment
Guest kissmequick Posted February 10, 2005 Share Posted February 10, 2005 Loved reading these obs - I confess I've now read this post quite a few times!I was thinking, there's the old saying "I've abandoned my search for the truth and am now looking for a good fantasy". Thank you for showing me that they're not mutually exclusive. Link to comment
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