It's classic attention-seeking behavior.
It's classic attention-seeking behavior.
I’ll send this to my friend who either doesn’t sneeze or sneezes 10 times in a row.
Maybe he’ll show it to his daughter who somehow inherited that.
I have this, too. It’s useful when I’m trying to work out a sneeze, but can be confounding if that happens at night. Sometimes artificial light will work, but rarely.
Heard a good one the other day
[sneeze] bless you [sneeze] bless you [sneeze] alright you’re on your own
Uh oh.
My default is 5. My record high is 19 in a row. 😐
OMG, the “bless you” is such a weird culture shock to me. It feels so awkward. Why gotta say it, like WHYYY? (I’m an introvert, I hate this weird “tradition” or whatever)
Can we just stop saying “bless you” or whatever?
Can we just stop saying “bless you” or whatever?
Yes! That’s literally all we have to do to move toward ending the practice. I know several people who don’t say it at all due to being areligious. I don’t acknowledge every sneeze, either. I’ve never encountered anyone getting offended by it.
It’s not on the same level of courtesy as “please” and “thank you” after all. Those words still have obvious use, but responding to an involuntary reaction of another person’s body feels more “rude” to me than saying nothing.
It feels weird at first, but the more we stop responding, the more normal it will become.
Now I’m just imagining a White Westerner going to China to study for university or something then a Chinese student sneezes and this Westerner turns around to the person who sneezed, stare in their eyes, and say “上帝保佑你” (God Bless You) with a dead serious tone and facial expression…
Like I’m just lol-ing at this scene in my head 🤣
(cuz “bless you” isn’t a thing in China… well… in Cantonese there sort of is a word, I heard my mom said it to me if I sneeze like 3 times in a row, but its not exactly common, like I never heard this said to/by strangers)
Maybe Google Translate will help me tone it down or localize it better:
願神最豐富嘅祝福喺你身上
(I wish I really understood.)
Last time I checked it was considered uncultured in some savoir vivre guide.
Why did I check such a thing? I was raised without this odd tradition and a long time ago had a girlfriend who was border line offended every time I didn’t react to her sneezing. Unfortunately she taught me to say it anyway and it’s pretty hard to unlearn again. After more than 2 decades.