I know it sounds like I’m hacking up a lung- but I DO have allergies, and I DO know when my coughing is in response to an allergen and not a virus or bacteria. Why do you think your colleagues know less about their allergies than you know about yours?
If someone near my desk has chamomile tea-- I’ll have a reaction. It’s not life threatening in any way, it has no lasting effects (so no, I don’t need an epi pen, thanks for your concern) but I will have a hacking cough if I’ve breathed in some of the irritants in your tea bag and you repeatedly dunk it up and down multiple times. Make it in a travel mug with a lid in the kitchen and then walk it to your desk? I’ll be fine, no reaction.
This time of year with floral decorations everywhere where you least expect them (why must every restaurant ladies room have a floral arrangement?) means I’m going to cough. And then it’s over. I wear a mask so other people feel more comfortable listening to the symphony.
February is generally my good month. No pollen yet where I live, the Xmas decorations are long gone and crushed into mulch. And then comes March…