Guy at work blows his nose VERY loud and today I lost it. AIBU

[Sj325]

This is probably going to sound really stupid. There’s this guy I sit next to in work who’s in his mid 40’s. He’s really nice and I get on really well with him 99% of the time.

But....he blows his nose SO loud and it drives me crazy! I have said to him about it before - I’m a civil servant and have to deal with public on the phone most days, there was one day he done it while I was on a call and the lady actually started laughing and said “for goodness sake” ! I was mortified and had to apologise on his behalf but I spoke to him about it when I came off the phone.

Today he done it again while I was on 3 different calls and when I finished the 3rd call I took my head phone off and said (rather angrily) “do you really need to blow your nose like that when I’m on the phone?! It’s extremely loud you know” He looked at me rather surprised and said “oh, sorry!” Then didn’t speak to me for the rest of the day.

I know I should have approached it differently but I honestly find noises like nose blowing and extremely loud coughing and sneezing so rude!

Am I being unreasonable to be annoyed for such a thing?

(Mainly because I feel there's a good chance he'll claim to his manager that you're "bullying" him, so getting your side in strengthens your position).

I am a loud nose blower. I am so embarrassed by it but I genuinely can't help it. I have a lot of allergies which affect my sinuses and there are times where i dont blow it it causes breathing troubles or the mucus runs down the back of my throat. I often get sore throats related to that. I do try to sneak off to the toilets or outside ago avoid loud blowing in front of people when I can, but thats not always possible. In peak hayfever season I would never come out of the bathroom haha.

So YANBU to be annoyed, but he is by to blow at his desk either.

Is his name Russell? If so, had the same conversation with 10 or 15 years ago.

I don’t get the loud sneezers who seem to shout the words ‘achoo’ before throwing in some added theatrical suffix as in:

ACHOOOO-WOO-WAH-WEEEEEEEEEAH

They are actually shouting the words, which I find equally odd and very irritating, especially when they claim they ‘can’t help it’.

I'm so sorry, but I'm a loud sneezer. And vomiter to. Honestly this noise just explodes out of me. I have no say in the matter! When I was at school I was so embarrassed I used to hold my nose and breath while sneezing and it blew my ear!
When I vom I sound like a dinosaur giving birth! (I know dinosaurs laid eggs, in using that for comic effect)

DH was a loud sneezer.
Was.
He used to try and internally stifle it, which ended up with him making all sorts of odd noises and practically folding himself in half when he sneezed, all to avoid the actual sneeze.
I have to admit I got rather testy about it, especially the exaggerated "argh ooh argh" afterwards. He said it was a very painful experience.
I did lose my rag in the end and I would say "For goodness sake, just sneeze! Stop holding it in."
In the end, he listened. He rarely sneezes and when he does an actual ordinary sneeze, it's quite quiet. Quieter than mine!
My dad has a foghorn sneeze and my brother sounds like a gunshot when he sneezes. My mum, however, is always trying to stifle them and I remark that she says eastern Europe locations when she does it. A small sneeze has her saying "Grozny! Grozny!" but when she's got a cold it's more like "Herzegovina!"

My mum, however, is always trying to stifle them and I remark that she says eastern Europe locations when she does it. A small sneeze has her saying "Grozny! Grozny!" but when she's got a cold it's more like "Herzegovina!"

This made me nearly choke

I have to admit I feel a bit sorry for your colleague. I'm quite a dramatic sneezer - I really can't help it, I would love to have quiet, gentle sneezes but they just don't come out that way. When I try to stifle them it becomes very uncomfortable, as others have said. Sometimes there can be about 20 in a row and I can struggle to breather between sneezes. A bout like that is really exhausting and leaves me feeling pretty shit afterwards, and it can be pretty dangerous if a bout of sneezes comes on while I'm driving. My mother has always found it very annoying, which annoys me to be honest. Does anyone really think someone wants to be going through that?

You say your colleague's nose blowing seems to be habit rather than necessity but there's every chance he's dealing with an allergy or sinus problem and it can be unrealistic to go off to the bathroom every time you need to clear your nose.

People blowing their noses makes me feel physically sick, that should be done a toilet I believe!

I really struggle with people who have a lack of self awareness he must know that it’s distracting whilst people are on the phone.

Fil is a loud sneezer and nose blower. It drives me mad! There is no need for it. The whole of my husbands family take bodily function noises to a new level. Bleurgh.

I have a loud sneeze, but blow my nose quietly. I muffle the sneeze by holding a tissue to my nose. I try to be considerate to others, but the sneezes can catch me without warning.

I’m also a loud sneezer and make DH jump out of his skin. Sometimes I manage to gasp out a warning so he’s prepared but most often I don’t. Trying to suppress it only works temporarily, if I really need to sneeze I will.

The guys in my workplace pick their nose, rubs themselves.... farts, burps and chew with their mouth open.

The joys of construction. Oh and it's the oldest guy in the office that's the worst.

I knew someone who always shouted "horse shit!!" through every sneeze. I tried to train myself to do it as it's hilarious but I can never manage it

I’m so glad I started this thread and know I’m not alone!

Also, besides the snooty grammar police, some of the responses are hilarious 😂

Op. you did the right thing.

Oh dear, not your finest hour by the sounds of it op!

I used to think that loud sneezers could stop by holding their noses.
Until I heard about this poor bloke. Maybe not such a good idea after all!

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-42687970

He ruptured his throat by trying to hold in a sneeze!

But I don't see why people have to be so loud.

That sounds v irritating but I wouldn't have had the guts to say it myself but would have been glad to have you in my office.

I wouldn't apologise just yet as he might think it's ok and start again

I wonder when the noisy nose blowing kicks in? I'm a secondary teacher and my students without fail always ask to go out of the room if they need to blow their noses. They think it's a really embarrassing thing to do and wouldn't dream of doing it in public.

I can understand having no control over a sneeze it's not really like any of us choose to sneeze but blowing your nose can easily be dine in the bathroom and honestly the over the top nose blowers always come across as attention seeking

If be irritated too...i must confess I can be a sniffer and dp has trained me out of that and when I listened to myself God it was annyoing

So sneezes not the person's fault but nose blowing completely controllable and if you really must make a cacophony during it bugger off to the bathroom

Don't get me started on grown ass adults who scream and jump and go massively over the top when they see a spider or a wasp (yes I get fatal allergies...but you still don't need to wail and scream and run around like a blow up waving car sales lot balloon on speed ....leave quickly and quietly and asked someone to deal with it for you)

I ALWAYS leave my desk if I need to vacate my nostrils and wash my hands afterwards. Anything else is utterly putrid.

Not the same as blowing your nose / sneezing, but the person who sits next to me in the office insists on eating her lunch at her desk, and she chews sooooo loudly, and it's always crunchy things like apples and it GIVES ME THE RAGE.