slo’s THURSDAY 11/16 poll - God Bless You vs Bless you vs Gesundheit

[slo]

Since I’ve been blessed with a head cold this week, I’ve been hearing my DH say ”God Bless You” or “Bless You” often - LOL! So I started thinking to myself, what do I say to people when they sneeze? What do other people say when someone sneezes. Who do we say it to?

So I ask you these questions….
Do say “God Bless You”, “Bless You” or “Gesundheit” to someone that sneezes?
If yes….which one of these do you say?
Who do you say it too?
(multiple choice)


For Me…..I say both “God Bless You” and “Bless You” to all people. Always to my family and friends, I used to say it to my dog (RIP), I’ll say it to patients at work and I’ll say it to strangers in the store or wherever. I used to not say it very much to strangers, in case they weren’t religious people, but I decided to in recent days - if someone wants to be mad because I said “God Bless You” after they sneezed then that‘s their problem - I‘m just being nice.

 

[WDWEPCOT]

I say bless you to people like in stores or wherever I’m at when I hear them sneeze
I said gesundheit to my family and friends
I say bless you too my pets
As a general rule I’ve noticed a lot of people don’t do that you can sneeze and they don’t say a word I work with a lot of younger people so I don’t know if that’s something to do with that I’m not knocking the younger generation I’m just saying my observation when I worked with a lot of older people that wasn’t the case Ymmv just my general observation

 

[Kitty 34]

I said Bless You to my Infusion nurse yesterday. She said it was just a cough that sounded like a sneeze. I didn't want to take the blessing back (as if I have those powers anyway ) so I just said bless you anyway.

 

[NAB]

Bless you to everyone.

 

[MamaMermaid]

Bless you to everyone - sometimes not strangers, though!

 

[Dan Murphy]

Mostly God bless you, to most anyone. Almost an automatic response.

 

[JaxDad]

 

[ronandannette]

Usually nothing, unless I’m in a direct one-on-one situation and it seems like they’re expecting me to respond. Then it will be “bless you”. In a group or out in public, I feel like it’s more polite to pretend not to notice involuntary bodily functions, like if somebody accidentally belches, cuts one, or has a coughing fit.

 

[mamamary]

I say bless you to mostly everyone- even my dogs when we had them. I usually don’t to strangers but it comes out automatically sometimes. When we have a cold at home we’ll agree to not say it for every sneeze as we might be saying it all day long.

 

[disneychrista]

Usually I say nothing. I will say bless you to my daughter usually if it’s more than one sneeze.

I’ll tell myself to knock it off if it’s more than one sneeze

 

[JLTraveling]

Usually Bless you, sometimes Gesundheit...and while saying something is pretty much an automatic response, there seems to be no rhyme or reason to when I say one versus the other.

And because it's an automatic response, I say it to everyone including strangers.

 

[john7994]

Bless you - out of habit and perceived politeness in smaller groups. I am hit or miss with the wife - which has been a subject of conversation (also to the Seinfeld episode). Not worried about adding the “god” portion in front of it when I have the time to add emphasis to a big sneeze - but overall it seems like it’s a small “g” situation and not a capital “G”.

 

[jimmymc]

I say bless you to everyone, but this poll reminds me of my catholic school days where you had to say "God bless you". Because we weren't blessing you, God was. If your teacher made you do this, it was a pretty good indication that they were going to be a pain.

 

[_19disnA]

Never saw the point of saying something to anyone who sneezes. The idea of 'evil spirits' being able to invade your body when you sneeze always seemed a bit bizarre to me.

 

[hertamaniac]

I guess it was a habit of saying something that is now broken. I say nothing.

 

[disney4us2002]

I wish you had added an over/under age 35. I think it's sadly dying out. I rarely heard bless you from from my young coworkers but almost all of my older colleagues. It also could be a change since COVID because sneezes were treated like the plague for a while there. Darn hard for many of us suffering seasonal allergies. Personally, I really don't like sneezing. I have a powerful sneeze and usually sneeze in a series of 3 or 4 at least. It's annoying.

I say it to everyone including my dog.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

I say 'bless you' to family and friends. Sometimes I'll say it to a stranger if...I don't know, I just do. Of course, with my Philly accent it comes out as "bleshoo," Hahahaha.

 

[scbruno]

Bless you to family and friends.

 

[1420Elexismc]

I say Bless You to anyone I hear sneeze

 

[Tink-osophy]

I was wondering why we say it; thanks for the explanation.

I say, "Bless you" to anyone, but that only includes strangers if I get the sense they'd be comfortable with it. Of course, that's just a guess, really.