You know how it is…It’s quiet in the office, you’re sitting quietly at your desk, maybe even getting some work done, and you feel it. You know it’s coming and you know there’s nothing you can do to stop it. You’re going to sneeze! Not that there’s anything wrong with it, it’s just awkward. And it’s awkward because you’re never really sure about “sneeze etiquette.” Do you answer every sneeze with a “bless you,” or just every few times? And then you have to answer the “bless yous” with a “thank you,” which just prolongs the whole thing. Is it rude to ignore a sneeze, or are you just doing the sneezer a favor by letting it go without paying too much attention to it?
How often do you sneeze when you’re in a quiet room? I feel like if I’m alone, I probably never sneeze, but if I’m somewhere quiet, I sneeze about twice every hour. And it seems like everyone around me is sneezing that often too. Makes me wonder if there are potent allergens or irritants flying around the office, or if it just seems like there’s a lot of sneezing going on because in the quiet room, you notice it. You know how some people seem to swallow their sneezes so all you hear is a tiny squeak, and some people sneeze so loud they can scare the living daylights out of you if you have no prior warning? Can we control the sound of our sneezes? The answer is yes, to a certain extent. Social scientists theorize that the way we sneeze is sort of a reflection of our personalities, like our laughs, or the volume of our voices. Then, on the other hand, it’s thought that much about the loudness of our sneezes is hereditary, having to do with lung capacity and how big the pre-sneeze breath was. I actually know a brother and sister who both sneeze loud enough to knock down the Three Little Pigs’s house of sticks. When I jump after hearing their sneezes, they each always say “You should hear my grandmother!” I probably would rather not!
