Sneezing.

No, you heard right, not seizing, sneezing. I was in a conference today, and in a group of Indian students, one sneezed, no one said "God bless you!" At first I expected to hear it. But then, when you think about it, what a ridiculous thing to say.


"Oh, something irritated your nasal mucosa and your body mounted an immediate reflex to blow it out with forced air and mucous that you will then catch in your hand? That's gross, man. But hey... Let me aid you by bestowing upon you God's grace, through the golden angel's hymn of my words - God bless you my child..."



"Oh, and, YOURE WELCOME..."


Let's review traditional responses to other unavoidable body functions:

burp - laugh/look of disgust from random people near you
hiccup - laugh/nothing
yawn - nothing/rude look from your attending physician
"barking spider" - see above
sneeze - a truncated prayer for which the "blesser," expects thanks

Yes, I know the history of the phrase and that it is just a polite thing to say. But what really irritates me is when, say, you're not paying attention when someone sneezes, you forget to give them God's blessing while they have nose-goo flying at mach 1 out of their nares. They turn to you, with watering eyes and a red nose and say -

"Uh, Thanks....? pffff."


Great, now I feel guilty because you don't dust often enough... I'll be honest, I'll probably keep saying it.