Yes, I didn't bless you

[morgaath]

"Achoo

Comments

[reannon]

Lots of stuff we do for politeness doesn't seem to have a practical reason... except that it's polite. I never thought of "Bless you" as being religious in nature, simply an acknowledgment, along the lines of, "I hope you're not getting sick," for example. You can bless someone with a good thought or positive energy without it being religious in nature.

Now, if you say "GOD Bless You," then yeah, that's religious. But almost no one does that anymore. You could almost see it as humanist - instead of God blessing you, I bless you. My good wishes, not calling down a higher power upon you.

As far as acknowledgment of other bodily functions, I am a mother. Oh yes, there is acknowledgment. :) He gets the MomGlare of Doom if he does so without a quick, "Excuse me." Yes, it's a necessary bodily function, but the quick apology for inflicting it on others is... polite.

[morgaath]

In my world view "Bless you" is missing a word. It is just shortened to save time, and of course we all know what is meant, etc. Good thoughts/positive energy is just not my thing.

It's one of the things that they can trace with the growing influence of European culture. When a European country took over another country, suddenly the people started making a comment when people sneezed.

[semperfiona]

If you want something to say when people sneeze that won't be remarked upon, I recommend "Gesundheit". It just means "health".

[ardantheblack]

technically it means good/high heath, but i agree, this is what i say to people who sneeze. they still get what they want, but no religious or superstitious connotations. just the wishing for you not to be sick and sneezing for some other mundane reason.

[thehat]

That's what I do. It takes the superstition out of it while not abandoning the expectations for manners.

[gothmom]

That's what I always say. You know the South Side Dutch upbringing and all.

[apocalypticbob]

Maybe you should say "Wash your hands!" every time. It would likely be more useful. I've noticed fewer and fewer people saying "Bless you" lately, and I live in the Bible belt. Esp, among the younger generation, it seems to be fading. I've noticed if someone sneezes in class, hardly anyone says "Bless you" anymore. I think our generation may be one of the last in which its use is widespread.

[sprytess]

Haha…wow, well here is my story.

I recently went on a few dates with someone and I while there was a host of things that didn’t click with me (ie personality of cardboard, never laughs) the one thing I related to my girlfriend is that he didn’t even say “Bless You” when I sneezed.

I think bless you goes along with holding the door for someone or helping them when they drop something. It’s a simple thing to let people know humanity is not dead.

[sevenstars777]

I don't remember where, but I read once that people started saying "bless you" or "God Bless You" when people sneezed because you heart stops for a second when you sneeze, so people in the middle ages thought that you were dead for a second, and if they didn't "bless you" an evil could get into your body while you were "gone". By the same token, In French, people say "Ah Deosil" when you sneeze, which means "to the right", because they thought demons lurked on the left and angels on the right and they only wanted angels or good spirits to get in and not demons or bad ones. Honestly I like the idea of "Gesundheit", much less religious.