I was just wondering if any one else has had this experience.

My TB Wife( 34 years) never says bless you when I or some else in the family sneezes. when I ask her why? she says "she is not superstitious, does not believe the myths about your heart skips a beat or it was the first sign of the Plague a couple of hundred years ago so there is no need to say bless you" I object and say it is a courtesy like saying excuse me to someone for belching. I thought it was just her. but, I had a coworker ask me if it was a Mormon thing because he had noticed another TBM co worker also never said "bless you" whenever someone in the room sneezes .
so just wondering is this a common experience with Mormons?

I'm not sure why. After leaving the mormon culture, I had to get used to this little tradition.

My family always said it, but come to think of it, it wasn't common at BYU.

I consider it kind of trite. No big deal one way or the other. Kinda cute but certainly not mandatory in any way. Frankly, when I sneeze and someone says "bless you", I am annoyed and would prefer they say nothing at all. Kinda bugs me when someone says they will 'pray for me' too. If it's all the same, No Thank you.

agreed on both

If I don't say 'bless you' when my DH sneezes.. he squirms around in his chair, gasping, saying 'my soul, my soul, quick it's floating away!'
Then when I say it, he's like 'that was close! I though you were going to let me die there for a minute!'

Around here (South America) we say "¡Salud!" ("Health!"). When someone belches we say "¡Sapo!" ("Toad!"). Same with farts, unless it's a stinky one, in which case we say "¡Fuchi!" and wave our hands dramatically in front of our noses, trying the extract the most shame possible from the offending party.

If someone can't hear you or needs you to repeat what you said they'll say "¿Mande?" which sounds like "Monday?" so I'll chime in uninvited with a robust "Thursday!" or "Saturday!" and pretty soon the entire conversation has derailed and everybody is trying to figure out what they were talking about before I so rudely interrupted.

Occasionally a student in one of my ESL classes will have heard "Bless you!" and will ask me about it. They're curious but unmoved; they prefer to stick with "¡Salud!" I use it now without thinking, even back in the states (although I still use "Cheers!" as a toast...)

In Mexico, they start with 'salud!'. If you immediately sneeze again, they say, 'dinero'. If you get a third out, they say, 'amor', and if you can get the fourth one in a row, they say, 'y tiempo para lograrlos!!' Then they stop whatever they were doing and have a party.

You never want one of the pilots or your surgeon to sneeze four times!!!

Wow, I regularly sneeze 4-7 times in a row. Guess I ought to move to Mexico.

What about the Jesus! for the first sneeze, Maria! for the 2nd and Jose! for the third--in Spain.

I think it's a strange habit, and kind of rude.

They might as well say, "stop it!"

That's really what they're getting across (I hope you don't do that again)

It's not like the tradition is that the person sneezing say "excuse me" or anything.

Having said that, I still say "bless you" when someone sneezes so as not to appear strange in social settings.

When someone adds "god" at the beginning I cringe...

Cochise Wrote:
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> I object and say it is a courtesy...

It's only a "courtesy" because you're used to it, and it only became prevalent in the culture because of the superstitions it was based on.

I don't say it either. And it has nothing to do with mormonism. I don't because a)"bless you" is a superstitious religious term I find rather silly, b)I've spent enough time in parts of the world where nobody says anything when you sneeze that I had the habit go away, and c)the only thing that needs to be said when someone sneezes is, "geez, would you please cover yourself when you do that?" when they don't do so. :)

"I object and say it is a courtesy like saying excuse me to someone for belching."

I don't say "bless you" either. Its a silly little custom that means/ does nothing except to act as some form of indicator to some people as to whether you are "polite" or not.

So my diaphragm and nasal passages spontaneously contract and causes me to sneeze. What does "bless you" contribute to the aftermath of that? And if courtesy is the only answer, I rest my case.

So my sphincter spontaneously contracts and causes me to fart. Why no "bless you" for that spontaneous bodily function?

So I eat a big meal and my stomach spontaneously causes a loud burp. Why no "bless you"?

Same for coughing, queefing or any other spontaneous, noisy bodily function?

I don't say bless you and I don't feel blessed when someone say's it to me. If someone has an issue with that they can go ffffff.....ind themselves someone else to bless :)

Why "bless you" and not "God bless you"? The two word phrase appears lazy. The person saying the two words only totally lacks authority. The three word expression is a prayer of sorts that the speaker hopes that any underlying illness or whatever is cured. BTW, for some reason I don't burp.

Bless you OPie

whatever

I think it is an old tradition that is just not taken too seriously any more. I will say it to a family member or friend and then check to see if they are alright. Do they have a cold or allergies? It's just a way of saying I noticed and I care.

But a complete stranger or co-worker I would probably ignore so as not to make them uncomfortable. I might say something if they didn't cover their mouth or sneezed unusually loudly.

If I sneeze I usually apologize to let people know I didn't mean to spread anything to them, didn't mean to disturb the quiet or a conversation, and prove I covered my mouth to protect them.

I don't like saying it either. I hate it when strangers say it to me. I don't even know you. Why are you saying "bless you" to me?

I never say Bless you....

I say Gesundheit.

The girls at my office know I prefer gesundheit - which translates to health or healthy (meaning good health). I'd much prefer a wish for good health than a prayer for God to bless me. One is possible, the other is not.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/23/2016 10:34PM by wine country girl.

The first time someone sneezes, I say, "Bless you."
If they sneeze a second time, I say, "Curse you!"

They look puzzled. Then I say, "Well, the blessing didn't seem to work."

It usually gets a laugh from anyone around who hears.

People at work always say, "Bless you," whenever somebody sneezes. But they stopped saying it to me, because every time they did, I would just laugh, like, "Why do you say that?"

I guess they figured out that I thought it was a bit weird, so they don't say it to me anymore.

I say gesundheit, because it seems socially expected to say something. I don't like bless you, because I don't care for the religious or superstition associations, but I certainly don't mind when anyone says it to me.They are only trying to be polite, and courtesy is nothing to be offended by. I'd never comment or feel put out if someone did not acknowledge my sneeze.

The other day I sneezed in a parking lot and someone at least twenty feet away shouted, "bless you!" I thought it was funny.