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Words have meaning. Words are not said in a vacuum without meaning. Behaviors also have meaning.
If you wish to continue to say intrusive pointless things like 'bless you' when someone sneezes, it defines what you think about yourself and illustrates what you know and recognize about behavior.
As an aside - "the world is out to get them/you" and "high horse" and "villainize" - absurdities, exaggerations, & straw man thinking
Last edited by matisse12; 08-15-2017 at 04:52 PM..
Words have meaning. Words are not said in a vacuum without meaning. Behaviors also have meaning.
If you wish to continue to say intrusive pointless things like 'bless you' when someone sneezes, it defines what you think about yourself and illustrates what you know and recognize about behavior.
As an aside - "the world is out to get them/you" and "high horse" and "villainize" - more absurdities, exaggerations, & straw man thinking
Yep. The most ironic part is that your argument also does everything you're accusing ^^^ me of ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
ROFL, trying to imagine what an appropriate thing to say to someone blowing their nose. "Thar she blows!!"???
While living in Taipei during the 1950s, I recall seeing people on the street frequently blowing their nose by closing one nostril with the forefinger and blowing the snort forcefully out on the sidewalk. Apparently not considered ill-mannered there.
But the Taiwanese had a point - to them it was unsanitary to dirty up a handkerchief and carry it around in one's pocket all day.
There are some interesting interpretations of why people do this on this thread, many of which I never thought of.
This may seem odd, but I've always thought when someone says this that it means they are naturally empathetic and have a strong desire to want someone to be comfortable, but if they ignore the sneeze they're less concerned. This is a strange way to look at it, I know, but for some reason I've always seen it that way.
It's as if they are sending the message that they realize people sneeze sometimes when they have a cold or allergies and they hope everything is going to be okay with the person, and they're blessing them with good thoughts and wishes that this situation improves.
The "offended" half need to get over it. It's just an automatic courtesy from well-raised people, nothing more. As Nov3 mentioned, it can also be viewed as amusing in a group setting. Better than spraying the surrounding air with Lysol.
But then again, I'm just an old guy who was raised to be polite - as in opening doors for females (of any age), taking my hat off in an elevator/restaurant/home/office/school, walking on the curb side with my wife, Yes Sir, no Sir, yes Ma'am, no Ma'am......etc.
It has nothing to do with politeness or being well-raised. It's an old superstition. People who aren't superstitious, or who weren't raised by people who were (or by people whose parents were), have no reason to believe that a sneeze requires a response. You don't say anything when people cough, do you? Well, a lot of people feel the same about sneezes.
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