I was on a date. A good one: spontaneous, romantic, the kind you see in the movies. The guy I fancied came back to mine after a gig we’d been at with mutual friends. I brewed mango tea in my favourite pot and showed him my life-drawing sketches. Conversation and Kate Bush albums intertwined as night turned into day. When birds began chirping, I suggested we go for a walk in the park to round off our time together. Big mistake.
Almost immediately, my nose began its rebellion – unleashing a flow of clear phlegm across the rest of my face. With no tissues, I had to reach for the nearest thing – a tree leaf. I asked my crush to turn around while I loudly blew my nose and got snot everywhere on my hand. I still remember the mucus stuck between my fingers.
Things are worse than ever for hay fever sufferers. It’s July, by which point the worst hay fever symptoms should be dying down, but research shows that warming temperatures and longer seasons due to the climate crisis, growing levels of air pollution, and reduced biodiversity within urban environments are all contributing to intensifying and prolonging symptoms and more adults experiencing allergies for the first time.
