Kamikaze Deal Breaker

Countless squadrons of gnats invaded our offices a few weeks back.

Thursday afternoon on a long day with only four hours' sleep the night before, I was eye-to-eye with a client, closing a deal, when I inhaled one.

Other than maybe a shocked ::blink:: or two, I hoped my face hadn't registered it.

The insect crawled up the back of my throat, into my nasopharynx.
I began to sneeze, uncontrollably, into my elbow and my eyes watered like a big snort of a mean onion.


After an Uzi burst of 6 or 7 hard sneezes, I prayed there wouldn't be a dead gnat in the crook of my elbow, and was dumfounded, struggling whether to lie, explain what happened, or opt for red-faced silence.