Does Your Nose Run When You Yawn?

During the first part of our marriage there were many occasions when my husband would hear me sniffle and wonder why I was crying. I would explain to him that I was not crying, but in fact was yawning. Then, life would continue without any further comment. I didn’t expect anything else since I had in fact explained the cause of the sniffles.

Then, one day as we were driving along and I was looking out the window next to my seat, my husband heard me sniffling and asked what was wrong. Again, I explained matter-of-factly that nothing was wrong, I was just yawning. This time he asked why I tell him that I’m yawning when I could just tell him what is wrong. Why am I giving him such a silly excuse as yawning when he knows that yawning doesn’t cause one to sniffle? What? Yes it does. I was taken aback when he said his doesn’t run and had never heard of such a thing.

He thought the idea was ludicrous. Now, I learn that for all those years he thought I had been upset and was refusing to share with him the cause while giving him some absurd excuse of yawning. I can only imagine the thoughts that were going through his mind all those times I said I was yawning. Yet, even now I couldn’t convince him it was the yawning.

I was stumped. I thought everybody’s nose ran when they yawned. My eyes water and nose runs. Not usually for simple little yawns, but when I'm dog-dead tired, I'll have to get out the tissues.

Since I couldn’t get him to believe me I started asking everyone I met if their nose ran when they yawned. I was shocked to discover that everyone said no. They would always look at me really funny, as if it were a trick question. I might as well have been asking them if their toes jingled when they crossed their eyes. Just wondering…… let’s change the subject.

It took me nearly a year to find someone who said yes. It was funny because he answered with all assurance that this was a very common expectation from all people.

“Well, yes. Doesn’t everyone’s nose run when they yawn,” he had asked.

His friend said, “no, just you weirdo’s!”

He was as stumped as I had been. So, I explained to him the history of this question. Now he knows. We are minorities. For some reason, ours runs and most of the world’s does not. Go figure.

So, tell me, how alone are we? Does your nose run when you yawn?