*sniff*
*sniff*
…..*sniff*
Isn’t it strange?
*cough* *cough*
How when somebody in a crowded room sniffs their nose or coughs…
*ahem*
*hem-ahem*
…there seems to be a direct response from somebody else soon afterwards? Now, maybe it’s just me that notices this or maybe it only happens in classrooms, but I know it happens. It’s hard to say why though. Does one person’s cough subconsciously make somebody else feel the need to cough? Or maybe people don’t want another person to feel as if they are alone in their suffering and must join them in their snot-pullback, phlegm clearing, or vocal chord….dusting? Personally, I only do that when I’ve been waiting to do one of those things, and somebody else doing it provides the perfect excuse to do so as well while not drawing any attention (since, hey, everybody’s doing it).
Regardless of how it happens, I know I want to name this phenomenon if it doesn’t already have a name: “the call of the nose.”
…
Hey, it was either that or “the call of the bodily functions.”
Actually, this play on “call of the wild” makes me think that maybe this is simply a carry over of the jungle days of calling to each other from across the forest. Logically, talking/yelling is what replaced this, but logic has no place here and so I say that our nose sniffling to each other is simply a form of communication. Yes! A form of subconscious communication! That’s what this is! Anybody still looking for a thesis to write on? Bam: right here. No need to thank me. It’s just that when you get tons of grant money to research this phenomenon, I request a modest 50% of the funds. Wait, on second thought, it’s not like you really need money to research this, so make that 90%. What on earth do you need the rest for? It’s not like this requires any expensive chemicals, lab animals, or expenseive cloning techniques (unless you want to see if clones will call their noses to each other). Just sit in a few classrooms and wait for it to happen. Maybe even try forcing some coughs from yourself and see what happens. Maybe you will be able to fool the locals with your false call and get them to react to you as if you were one of their own!
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I shall be awaiting a check in the mail.
suspiciously generic 
Interesting observation. I thought about this phenomenon in the past, but didn’t go as far as doing a major research and trying to get a grant for it. You could add another behavior that goes along the same lines: people coughing more when they return home. It seem like they were saving it for later where they don’t need to control themselves.