Response to a sneeze?

[Esquilax]

It's a sneeze. Why am I socially obligated to say anything at all? It's just one of those weird social tics that's become grandfathered in; nobody really knows the origin of it off the top of their heads, do they?

Besides, why are we privileging the sneeze, anyway? What's so great about sneezes that they need blessing? If I fart out in public I'd be given a well deserved look of disgust, but if I expel a miasma of germ particles from my head I get fucking blessed? What's up with that?

[Angrboda]

And what do you say when someone pukes?

"Not on the rug! NOT ON THE RUG!"

One year when I was a kid in junior high school, my sisters, mom, and I drove the 200 miles to visit my brother and sister-in-law in Minneapolis. One of my sisters who had a boy she was sweet on invited him along. This was a few weeks after Thanksgiving, and my sister-in-law had gotten a good deal on a big turkey, so we had a nice post-Thanksgiving dinner, me, my family, and my older sister's sweetum. Of course, there was a reason the turkey was on sale... but we didn't know that yet. We finished and headed back the 200 miles to Duluth, and drove up the hill to drop off Bruce and head home. My mother, who was driving, was curiously silent and still. She watched Bruce wander up the walkway and disappear behind the stained glass window of his front door. The second the door snapped shut, my mother relaxed, and turbo-puked all over the inside of the front windshield. I was grateful for once not to be privileged with riding shotgun. Long story short, we made our way home, and everybody was gloriously sick with a bout of food poisoning the rest of the evening. Everybody except me, that is. For some reason, I was curiously fine. I woke up the next morning and wandered downstairs and plopped down on the end of the couch to watch TV. Suddenly, my whole world turned that sickly yellow color, and I knew I was going to puke, big time. I knew I couldn't make it all the way up the stairs to the bathroom, so the next best thing, we had already put our Christmas tree up, and draped around it was a white sheet, and on top of that were the presents. I figured the sheet was my best option, so I launched to my feet and started lurching towards the Christmas tree. Out of nowhere my sister appears, and, seeing that I was going to puke, starts running interference to prevent me from reaching the tree, waving her arms about wildly and imploring me, "Not on the presents! Not on the presents!" I don't even remember what happened next, but one way or another, I'm sure it was glorious.

[Doubting Thomas]

Saying "bless you" to someone for sneezing is silly and a throwback to old superstitions. Why don't we say "bless you" whenever we rip a thunderous fart?

If anyone ever says "bless you" to me after sneezing, I just say, "thanks, but I'm not superstitious." And if they ask what I mean then I tell them about how that superstition began.

[Nine]

I usually frown at them for making so much unnecessary noise.

[tokutter]

It's a sneeze. Why am I socially obligated to say anything at all? It's just one of those weird social tics that's become grandfathered in; nobody really knows the origin of it off the top of their heads, do they?

Besides, why are we privileging the sneeze, anyway? What's so great about sneezes that they need blessing? If I fart out in public I'd be given a well deserved look of disgust, but if I expel a miasma of germ particles from my head I get fucking blessed? What's up with that?

I thought I read somewhere it started during the black plague....i guess when someone started sneezing it was a sign of bad things to come......so start blessing them.....

---

I like the french version: santé
It means health... if you sneeze, it means you're not fully healthy, so we wish you a bit of health.
In portuguese, it ends up being "saúde"... but I still use the french version, because it resembles the standard, religious based "santinho", which comes from saint... and so people don't find what I say very strange and just move along.

Either that, or I just don't say anything... why should I? It makes no sense. Why don't people say something when you cough? I mean, a cough could represent a much serious condition, because you're expelling something from your lungs, while a sneeze only expels stuff from your nose.

And what do you say when someone pukes?

Exactly.....I think i came to the same conclusion in my teen years....I do however bless myself when i sneeze and I'm around my family and they forget to do so.....remind them they didn't do their duty......My question is this....If you are a multiple sneezer such as myself (3)....should they bless u once for series or 3 times..one for each

[Kayenneh]

Oh my Apo, can't laugh out loud, my customers and co-workers might think that I have finally snapped


On the topic of sneezing and strange things mothers do in the car, this one happened when we were on our first big family vacation to Seattle. We shared a bag of gummy worms and suddenly my mother (who is known for her hysterics) stared to yell that something felt wrong. She keeps this up and says that she think she might have an allergic reaction of some kind and her eyes were indeed by now watering. Me, my sister and dad are all laughing, mostly because mom is feeling sorry for herself. Then suddenly she howls and blows her nose. Guess what her discomfort was about? A small, bright yellow piece of gummy worm, that had somehow gotten lodged in her nose.

[Savannahw]

I say "excuse you" especially if they don't say it.

[pocaracas]

Oh, Apo and Kay, what have I done?!

[Kayenneh]

It's quite alright!

[wolf39us]

I say "Just Die and get it over with!"