I had missed class because I was sick, so I went to my professor's office hours to catch up on the material. I was having trouble understanding the concepts and the professor started to get frustrated. He made a point to mention how the questions I was asking was on concepts we had "already learned a while ago," which wasn't polite to say, but I tried to ignore it. I was also trying to keep in my cough, but I eventually let a cough out. The professor said, "that is the most pathetic cough I've ever heard." I couldn't respond because I was so confused. Was he suggesting that I was faking a cough to get his sympathy? Why would he feel the need to point it out? He didn't show any sign that he was just joking around. I eventually left his office, feeling very invalidated and emotional. I never went to his office hours ever again, because I was afraid that he would assume that I was a delinquent who was skipping class for no reason and trying to make it up in office hours.