As the allergy season begins, it’s a good time to admit it. You’ve sneezed, not heard a “God bless you!” and felt cheated.

It’s ridiculous, of course. But when the co-worker next to you sneezed, you had the courtesy to send her a blessing. And when your friend next to you let loose with one sneeze, followed by a titanic double that rattled the windows, did you laugh like everybody else?

Well, yes. But then you wished him spiritual benevolence.

Then came your sneeze. Followed by.…

Nothing. You could hear a cricket chirp.

Did you do something wrong? Is everyone in the office angry at you? Is it because of last week’s meeting, the one on “how to have effective meetings,” when you asked a question as everyone was leaving and the meeting lasted another 15 minutes?

Yes, possibly. Because most meetings are horrible. They’re boring, vague and lose focus like the Miss Teen USA contestant who answered a question about lack of geography knowledge with ways to help South Africa and “the Iraq.”

But maybe your co-workers don’t hate you. It could be that some people just don’t like to say “God bless you!”

I say “bless you” as a matter of habit, but some people think saying it is stupid. “You’re just pointing out a bodily function,” one person told me.

I guess that’s true. It’s not like we believe in the old superstitions that “God bless you!” keeps someone’s soul from escaping, or that sneezing stops your heart and “God bless you!” starts it again.

We don’t recognize other bodily conditions, either. People with the hiccups get nothing but an occasional stare and people who cough get a “don’t get that on me” shunning. And those who have that other unfortunate bodily function in public — yes, that one — definitely don’t want a blessing to heighten their embarrassment.

Oh my, was that you? Demons be gone!

Actually, I think it was the dog who had demons.

“God bless you!” makes a little more sense. And it’s been around so long that fighting the tradition is probably futile. It’s like fighting a sneeze, which we’ve all tried to do at a formal event. You end up with a cartoonishly contorted look, and your head feels like it’s vibrating, as you attempt to stonewall air traveling at more than 100 mph.

That’s hurricane force, people. Mess with Hurricane Schnoz and you might blow an eardrum. (That’s really true. But contrary to what I believed in elementary school, if you keep your eyes open while sneezing, they will not pop out.)

Sorry, I kind of went on a Miss Teen USA-tangent there. But getting back on topic, do you know how long “God bless you!” has been around?

Many historians date it back to A.D. 590, when Gregory I became pope right before the plague hit in Europe. He ordered people to say “God bless you!” when someone sneezed in the hopes that the disease wouldn’t spread.

“God bless you!” survived the plague and it’s flourishing today. So much that, during allergy season, you might get a dozen blessings each day. Which is nice, because if you take the time to have an involuntary spasmodic convulsion that blasts out infectious droplets, you want to be recognized for it.

I feel bad about spreading germs, so I always say “excuse me.” That often leads to this routine of post-nasal-hurricane courtesy:

Ahhh-choooo!

Excuse me!

God bless you!

Thank you!

If this is happening in other work environments, the effect on employee productivity could be serious. Just one person with bad allergies and an entire office might fall short of its goal to surf the Internet for at least 50 percent of the day.

And if that happens, what will we do?

Maybe we should schedule a meeting to discuss it.