What Would Miss Post Say?

I am allergic to this building, I swear. Back from my Christmas break, I notice that the minute I step in here my nose starts to drip.

So, short one tissue, I do the thumb-tip thing that keeps the right nostril from becoming that start of a mighty river. You know, where you secretly try to quickly wipe the drip away with your thumb until you can get to a Kleenex? I trek to the bathroom several miles away (why is it so far away? I'm going to get bladder damage holding my pee until the trip is "worth it.")

So, of course in the hall, I meet a man I admire and who is one of my greatest cheerleaders.

So, I have to say, "Oh, I'd shake your hand, but I think I may be coming down with a cold."

Lovely. My first lie of 2005. I just didn't feel right saying, "Your moldy building makes my sinuses drip like a glacier under an ozone hole." It just didn't feel good, though it's closer to the truth.

And I think Emily Post would actually support me for my little social fib. And this conviction is what makes me a sociopath, right?