There is always the possibility that some of our ancestors spent thousands of years so far north that they didn't have significant pollen & pollinating insects,

There is always the possibility that some of our ancestors spent thousands of years so far north that they didn't have significant pollen & pollinating insects, or fruits, vegetables, legumes and the kinds of irritating things most other cultures evolved in harmony with during recent millennia. Always did seem normal to be irritated by irritants, with some people more irritated than others by different things. Seems like each person can only handle a certain amount of total irritants before they experience discomfort. I remember intentionally overcoming an allergy to cats. Researchers have since indicated that the suspected irritant is the cat's saliva rather than just the hair itself. Regardless, it was not unexpected to become more sensitive to less-often-encountered things completely unrelated to animal hair or saliva as a tradeoff after reducing the feline sensitivity.