In an ideal world, the soundtrack of my summer would be something like Sunny Afternoon by the Kinks or August Day Song by Bebel Gilberto or pretty much anything else which conjures up heavy perfumed air, lazy afternoons, ice cold lemonade, pretty much anything other than sneezing fits in the evening as the pollen settles, and gummy eyes. But no, I think the song that most accurately describes most of my summers (in the UK, it seems that whatever is ailing me doesn't lurk in other countries) is The Divine Comedy's Pop Singer's Fear of the Pollen Count. I hate it, I hate feeling the back of my throat itching up, the streaming nose, the puffy eyes, sneezing fits at inopportune moments. Also, the worst year (and day) I ever had for hayfever was the year of my graduation; all my graduation photos for all eternity, my face is puffy, my eyes red and streaming. It honestly doesn't look like me, or it looks like me inflated. And this was after mammoth doses of antihistamine, anti-histamine eye drops straight from the fridge (best thing ever) and generally doing whatever I could to look normal. I suppose it could have been worse, it could have happened on my wedding day.
But, even after all that, I learned that it doesn't end there. I found out (fortunately after I'd finished having exams, otherwise it would have bummed me out too much) that antihistamines can affect your ability to study. So yeah, not only are exams smack bang in the good weather time so you're inside revising instead of outside, doing pretty much anything else (I tried studying outside, it doesn't work), AND when hayfever is at its height, taking antihistamines to be able to try and deal with it can affect your concentration, and your exam results. I'm seriously contemplating contacting my university and seeing if they'll agree to a do-over, of my exams and my graduation photos. Or you know, so I don't have to do exams ever again, just bump my final grades up by 10% across the board, and redo my graduation photos with professional hair and make up, and Annie Leibovits or Mario Testino. That seems reasonable to me.
An example of what my revised graduation photos would look like, only imagine I'm clutching my degree in my hand as I run from the university to a bright future.
