Should Periodically Scan The Room

(I’m in an intense grad school program and am close to some colleagues. One day, five of us, four women and one man, are all eating lunch together in an office on campus- except that I forgot mine.)

Classmate #1: “Do any of you have some Tylenol or something? I’ve got period cramps.”

Classmate #2: “Sure, here you go! That sucks!”

(The four of us start to complain about periods and sort of forget that our male colleague is there.)

Me: *finishing up a rant* “…but I think dealing with the blood clots is the worst part. Where, you know, it doesn’t come out steadily but more in these big globs.”

(The other three agree, and start to add to the topic, but then hear our male classmate groan.)

Male Classmate: *pushes his plate with leftover pizza on it towards me* “Take it! I can’t look at pepperoni right now…”

Me: “Oh, my god! Sorry, [Male Classmate]! We sort of forgot you were here for a second. Oh well, at least if you don’t want lunch I can take this.”