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Location: huntsville, alabama, United States

i am an addict of laughter and also sadness. i guess basically i am very confused...

Sunday, February 13, 2005

bless you...

i never quite understood why people say "bless you" when someone sneezes. someone long time ago told me that it came about during the great plague. when people were dropping dead left and right, they felt like they needed to do something to stop this epidemic, so they started to say ... "bless you" which really means... i hope you don't have the plague. but "i hope you don't have the plague" seemed little too long to be catchy, so they decided to just say "bless you". and what i mean by "they" is some drunk people sitting around some bar as most traditions tend to start that way.

if you ask me, it is more appropriate to say "bless you" when someone farts. because there can be some serious discomfort associated with that. i mean if you are bloated and feeling gassy, you deserve a "bless you" (except it should be said in a more sympathetic way rather than in a cheerful manner). someone who just had their nostrils tickled by some small foreign object does not deserve my "bless you". for someone who just farted, now that my friend is true blessing, a cheerful blessing.

so, i am once again on a crusade. crusade to stop saying "bless you" when someone sneezes, but to only use "bless you" when someone farts. as chance would have it, i had an occasion to use this today. i think i actually embarrassed some old lady by doing that. i guess she thought nobody heard her .... accidental gaseous eruption, but it was just so obvious. the sound resonated like string quartet in a concert hall, subtle yet powerful... anyway, perhaps i should not have been so loud when i said "bless you" because there really was no reason for me to yell it out that loud. i guess maybe i should have kind of whispered it or kind of lip-synced it. oh well.... i don't think she would die of embarrassment or anything...

(none of the characters involved in this blog was injured in any way, so rest assured, i am not an old lady killer)

8 Comments:

Blogger Sarita said...

Nicely done... :) I agree I dont think shes dying or will die of the embarrassment this time. But what an interesting wave of change it would be if you could alter the polite greeting for flatulence and sneezing. (maybe acknowledgment rather than greeting) Well i added to my blog just to keep up with it... and I hope you had a great weekend. Talk to you again soon. -sarita-

February 14, 2005 at 11:02 AM  
Blogger Jessica said...

Poor old lady.

February 15, 2005 at 9:07 AM  
Blogger larrykim said...

sarita, thanks for the support... ;-)

jessica, i feel like i was forcing a comment out of you... ha!

February 15, 2005 at 9:54 PM  
Blogger Rogue said...

I'm here I'm here!
And I answered you on my blog.

Personally I kinda think the phrase, gee I hope you don't have the plaque is kinda kicky.
I may use later today and try it out.
However I don't believe I'll be able to get my two year old to make the switch. He already says bless you but I think the longer version may be too much for him to get out.
Maybe it's something they pick up in Jr High.

February 16, 2005 at 2:51 AM  
Blogger larrykim said...

well, i expect there will be some casualties when i decided to take on this awesome responsibility of starting this crusade to rid of all inappropriate "bless you"s, but that is just a price we have to pay...

February 17, 2005 at 7:51 PM  
Blogger Me said...

SNEEZING and BLESS YOU;

The tradition of saying "Bless you" or "Gesundheit" (meaning "health" in German originated from superstitions that sneezing was a sign of approaching danger or even death. It has always been believed that your heart stops during your sneeze.

I've heard medical reports on both sides of the coin; some agree your heart does indeed stop at the height of the sneeze. Others debunk it and say it's not so.

So... when someone sneezes we still say "bless you" - which we may not actually 'need' but gee, getting a blessing any day at any time is nice so why fight it?

February 20, 2005 at 11:01 AM  
Blogger larrykim said...

thanks for the information, meritt...

but i rather someone tell me that ... you are so good looking than bless you... but, that's just me. i am very shallow like that...

February 20, 2005 at 2:59 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The custom of saying "God bless you" after a sneeze was begun literally as a blessing. Pope Gregory the Great (540-604 AD) ascended to the Papacy just in time for the start of the plague (his successor succumbed to it). Gregory (who also invented the ever-popular Gregorian chant) called for litanies, processions and unceasing prayer for God's help and intercession. Columns marched through the streets chanting, "Kyrie Eleison" (Greek for "Lord have mercy"). When someone sneezed, they were immediately blessed ("God bless you!") in the hope that they would not subsequently develop the plague. Since I'm not Catholic, or the Pope, I never say it. I wonder if some consider me callous and cold...

June 30, 2005 at 11:53 AM  

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