I gets mail
November 16, 2009 3:30 pm
Hey, just a reminder to everyone out there, if you feel like asking questions, don’t hesitate to email me! I’ve setup a new convenient and easy to remember email for everyone who wants to get in touch, so if you’ve got something on your mind you’d like to share, or if you have a question or comment you think is funny, don’t just keep it to yourself, dammit! Today’s hilarious mail comes from Mike:
I’m a long time atheist and I’m always uncomfortable after somebody sneezes. Typically, I just say “bless you,” but I feel kind of disingenuous. I’m currently moving to saying Gesundheit! (to wish them good health) — I’m writing to find out what do YOU say to somebody after they sneeze, if anything?
Well, most of the time I just say “put your fucking hand in front of your mouth you disease bag” (it might be my recent paranoia of getting the Swine Flu before I can get the vaccine), but I agree that it would be fun to try a new one. Maybe the next time someone sneezes you can just tell them “pax in terra”, which is Latin for “peace on earth”. Any thoughts guys?
NOTE: Mike’s been busy, and asked a bunch of far more qualified atheists what they thought:
PZ Myers – “If necessary, I ask them to please cover their mouths. Otherwise, nothing.”
Phil Plait – “I don’t say anything.
”
Don Baker (Atheist Experience) – “I usually say Gesundheit. It’s hard to de-program yourself from all the kneejerk phrases that our culture has programmed us to say. I still say “God damn it” sometimes when I’m angry. Silly, huh?
Matt Dillahunty – “I usually don’t say anything…though I’ve said gesundheit in the past. The idea that we should say anything is a little absurd (what do we say when someone farts or hiccups?), but it’s not a big deal. The response is almost as involuntary as the sneeze. I’m not the slightest bit bothered by “bless you” or even “God bless you” and I’ve known plenty of atheists who have said both.
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36 Comments
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November 16, 2009
I usually say nothing at all – if I do say something, it’s “Gesundheit”. I’ve always thought it was weird to comment on someone else’s sneezing/coughing. I find it easiest to just ignore it.
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November 16, 2009
Eh, Pax in Terra is a little tooty-fruity. I say bless you sometimes – fuck it – who cares? It’s a nice thing to say. I know the implications, but do people really take it as invoking God?
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November 16, 2009
If so i’ll totally not say it
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November 16, 2009
Ya, I don’t usually say anything, sometimes I say “Bless you.” But I never say or ever will say Gesundheit, it just sounds stupid for some reason. I really don’t see a reason to say anything, whats so special about someone sneezing? And good luck trying to start a movement, call me a pessimist, but theres no way your going to make up a new word and have it stick. But thats just be being the buzz-kill.
A side note though, why not try saying “GOD Bless you,” really emphasizing the “God.” Like in a really condescending way. Then again that kinda makes one into quite the douchebag.
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November 16, 2009
i feel super awkward (brought up ultra-christian) so i usually say something like “aww.. not feeling well” or “oh darn allergies huh?” .. depends on the person/situation. if it’s my husband i say “shut up!” hah.
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November 16, 2009
Jake – “put your fucking hand in front of your mouth you disease bag”
You should say, “put your fucking elbow in front of your mouth you disease bag” since they will most likely just spread the germs on their hands everywhere.
One of my favorite Conan O’brien skits of all-time was a mock Public Service Announcement that Max Weinberg did years ago.
Max – “Whenever I sneeze someone says, ‘God bless you.’ Well what if I don’t believe in God you inconsiderate douchebag!”
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November 16, 2009
I do any of several things, depending on my mood:
- ignore it if it’s one sneeze, if they’re having a fit I remark on it
- Gesundheit
- Salud (since I’m in New Mexico
If I’m sneezing, I try to beat anyone to the punch and say “Excuse me” and that usually doesn’t bring on the bless you comment which drives me crazy.
I’ve often wondered – why is the word that is said in every other language means “health” but English is the one with the religious connotations?
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November 16, 2009
I always hesitante to email you, big blog authours never seem that grateful of mail. I feel like I’m emailing a guy in an ivory tower.
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November 16, 2009
Big blogger? Man, I’m a fucking nobody in the atheist scene, brother!
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November 16, 2009
Oh geez don’t tell them to put their HAND in front of their mouth!! That’s about the dumbest thing they can do. I will leave it to you to figure out why.
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November 16, 2009
If they don’t cover their mouth, then usually I jerk backward instinctively and say, “Cover your fucking mouth!”
If it’s someone I don’t know, but they cover their mouth, then I don’t say anything.
If it’s someone I do know, but they cover their mouth, then I will usually say, “Excuse you.”
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November 16, 2009
# Mark Says:
November 16th, 2009 at 4:58 pmOh geez don’t tell them to put their HAND in front of their mouth!! That’s about the dumbest thing they can do. I will leave it to you to figure out why.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Hi there, how are you doing?
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November 16, 2009
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November 16, 2009
/shakes hand/gets swine flu
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November 16, 2009
If anybody cares, here are the responses I received….
PZ Myers – “If necessary, I ask them to please cover their mouths. Otherwise, nothing.”
Phil Plait – “I don’t say anything.
”Don Baker (Atheist Experience) – “I usually say Gesundheit. It’s hard to de-program yourself from all the kneejerk phrases that our culture has programmed us to say. I still say “God damn it” sometimes when I’m angry. Silly, huh?
Matt Dillahunty – “I usually don’t say anything…though I’ve said gesundheit in the past. The idea that we should say anything is a little absurd (what do we say when someone farts or hiccups?), but it’s not a big deal. The response is almost as involuntary as the sneeze. I’m not the slightest bit bothered by “bless you” or even “God bless you” and I’ve known plenty of atheists who have said both.
“It’s as useless and harmless as telling someone to cross their fingers or knock on wood.”
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November 16, 2009
ZOMG I love Matt Dillahunty!
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November 16, 2009
I find it even more uncomfortable when someone says ‘bless you’ when I sneeze. Mostly I try to ignore it rather than comment and seem snide.
But I’ve gotten used to saying ‘Gesundheit’ because of my German buddies. As well, I’ve been accustomed to saying ‘salud’ from my time in Colombia. After the first sneeze you say ‘salud’ for health, then the second sneeze you say ‘dinero’ for money, and the third sneeze you say ‘amor’ for love. Very superstitious, but this is coming from a country with a Catholic population of 96%.
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November 16, 2009
@Doug
That doesn’t sound superstitious to me, it sounds like sneezing is becoming a game!
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November 16, 2009
I can’t believe no-one has suggested “Flying Spaghetti Monster blesses you with his noodly appendage” yet(!)
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November 16, 2009
lol I don’t know. I’m pretty sure that’s just a touch long, Isaac.
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November 16, 2009
I get bad hayfever so I take some pleasure that after the fifth or sixth sneeze even the most persistant ‘blesser’ usually gives up.
I don’t usually say anything when someone sneezes, but I always carry plenty tissues which I can wordlessly hand to the afflicted.
@Doug – When we were at school we used to have a superstitious rhyme to count the number of times a person sneezed to see what they would ‘get’.
1 is a wish
2 is a kiss
3 is a letter
4 something better
5 early to bed
6 a cold in the head.
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November 16, 2009
Gesundheit. coz i’m german.
But, why ist this brotherig? This is just a figure of speach. Nothing more, even for religious people.
It’s like wanting to tear down all art or old Cathetrals, just because they were releated to religion. Doesn’t make any sense. This is our past, this is history. Why schould we destroy Stonehenge?
Does really anyone think this is more than “good moring” or “Mahlzeit” ?
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November 16, 2009
Fnord!
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November 16, 2009
Correct me if I’m wrong, but Bless You started because people thought your soul was trying to escape when you sneezed.
I would hope that even the most ignorant Christian doesn’t believe this to be true anymore.
When someone says to me Gesundheit, my first response is usually “Comes out Loose”
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November 16, 2009
I’ve been trying to say “Oh, that sucks that you sneezed.” It doesn’t go over very well.
I have a coworker that does the Seinfeld thing… “You are sooooo good-looking!”
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November 16, 2009
I don’t even know what email address to reach you at, or I woulda emailed already.
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November 16, 2009
lol for years I never knew I was suppose to say Bless-you.
I always thought it was bleSH not bless.
To me It was never about blessing someone or any other superstition, just being polite by saying a phrase.
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November 16, 2009
Since this thread got started, I thought I might as well include the latest response I received from The Skeptics Guide to the Universe..
Bob Novella – “When I do respond I say gesundheit. It makes a lot more sense to wish a sneezing person good health than to bless them in case a demon enters them while they sneezed (at least that’s my understanding of the origin of saying “bless you”).”
I’d also like to publicly thank all these great atheists who took the time to reply to my inquiry.
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November 16, 2009
A tes souhaits
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November 17, 2009
How about saying nothing.
I find this stupid tradition to be pointless and waste of my breath.
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November 17, 2009
I usually just say ‘bless you.’ Regardless of intent or meaning behind the statement, it’s really just a courtesy that you pay to someone. Force of habit.
I don’t get offended if someone says it, or doesn’t say it to me, either. Just a couple words.
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November 17, 2009
I tend to pass over a tissue, or if they look over me i normally give a slight smile and a nod as basic acknowledgment (i usually have headphones in …)
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November 19, 2009
I say, “Good job!”
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November 24, 2009
Stand up comedian Dane Cook, who is Catholic, wondered what to say to an atheist after they sneezed, so he came up with “Nothing happens when you die.” I thought that was hilarious!!!!
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August 21, 2010
If I had not already decided long, long ago that Bill Bonner is just right when he says that people come to believe the things they need to believe when they need to believe them, I would have no logical explanation for how anybody can believe in “the peace process.” Israel is not going to give up Jerusalem, nor allow itself to be un-Jewished at a blow by granting the “Right of Return.” The Palestinians are not going to settle for Jerusalem being held by Israel, nor will the surrounding Arab countries ever grant the sixty-year-plus “refugees” citizenship or take them out of their reverse Potemkin-villages.
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November 2, 2010
I gingerly offer them a box of Kleenex and proceed to throw it at their head as they reach for it. I then call them a booger-nosed namby pamby.
HOO-RAH!
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