Showerthought: My cousin said he never says 'bless you' when someone sneezes

He told me at dinner last night that he stopped about two years ago because he thinks it's a pointless habit. I realized I just do it on autopilot without ever questioning why. Does anyone else have a small social rule they just decided to ignore?

3 comments

3 Comments

parker_sullivan21d ago

I read a blog post that traced "bless you" back to old fears about the soul leaving the body during a sneeze. The whole custom is built on a dead superstition. What's one polite habit you've dropped?

victorb7421d agoTop Commenter

My buddy Mark stopped saying "you're welcome" a few years back. He read some article about how it reinforces a power dynamic, like you did someone a big favor. Now he just says "no problem" or "sure thing." Honestly it threw me off at first when he did it after I thanked him for coffee. Feels weirdly more chill though, like the help was just normal.

paulw8713d ago

My uncle used to get annoyed if you didn't say bless you, he saw it as rude. But reading that blog post parker_sullivan mentioned a while back really flipped it for me. It's just an old ghost story we keep repeating. Now I just ask if the person is okay, which feels more real. Kinda like how victorb74 said "no problem" feels more chill than "you're welcome," it cuts out the weird old script.