Bless You!

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OK, I'm not even vaguely Christian. I am a sensible person who KNOWS, rationally, that the soul does not leap out of the nose during a sneeze, that devils cannot attack during a sneeze, that Plague has been cured for centuries so a sneeze is not a sign of impending death.

So why oh WHY do I still feel utterly compelled to say Bless You! (Or even Bletchoo, as it has been ritualised into...) whenever anyone around me sneezes? It's like it would be rude if I didn't!

kate, Sunday, 12 January 2003 13:01 (twenty-two years ago)

social conditioning.

Ed (dali), Sunday, 12 January 2003 13:06 (twenty-two years ago)

Argh! Suzy just sneezed and I did it again.

I can't say bad things about the future without knocking on wood, either, and I'm hardly an oak-worshipping druid, neither!

kate, Sunday, 12 January 2003 13:14 (twenty-two years ago)

one year passes...
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bosko, Monday, 14 June 2004 16:18 (twenty-one years ago)

four years pass...

Ha ha, I just did this.

Tom D., Tuesday, 19 August 2008 14:59 (seventeen years ago)

I used to go out of my way to say Gesundheit. Lately, I've been trying to use Bless You for old ladies and such. This weekend I accidentally Blessed a friend's kid who they are trying to raise secular.

kingkongvsgodzilla, Tuesday, 19 August 2008 15:03 (seventeen years ago)

Hahahaha, I say 'bless you' to everything – sneezes, coughs, belches, farts, hiccups, etc. It was a great routine me and my roomie had. I'd say 'bless you' after one of his drunken belches, and he'd say, "Quit pushing your religion on me!" Every time. Little things like that make like so reassuring.

Abbott, Tuesday, 19 August 2008 16:07 (seventeen years ago)

I think people are overly literal about this? Maybe? I mean, I say 'pardon me' after I sneeze, and it is not like I am asking a governor to prematurely end me prison sentence! (NB I am not in prison.)

Abbott, Tuesday, 19 August 2008 16:09 (seventeen years ago)

I suppose that's a nice way of thinking about it, Abbott. I mean, it's not a *bad* thing to be blessed. Can there be a secular blessing? Or non-denominational blessing?

I mean, it's a pleasant enough intention.

Masonic Boom, Tuesday, 19 August 2008 16:11 (seventeen years ago)

I like a little bit of religion in my life every now and again

Tom D., Tuesday, 19 August 2008 16:12 (seventeen years ago)

fuck you for sneezing.

dell, Tuesday, 19 August 2008 16:13 (seventeen years ago)

Now that would be an idea. I could really do with a shag.

Masonic Boom, Tuesday, 19 August 2008 16:14 (seventeen years ago)

In my mind, any old person, 'lijis or not, can bless any old fool they want for any reason! By saying 'bless you,' that is, as long as it's like a muttered reflex. Though it is ALSO fun if someone sneezes, telling them "BLESS YOU my son."

Abbott, Tuesday, 19 August 2008 16:15 (seventeen years ago)

(Cue discussion of the conditioned/involuntary reflex similarities between orgasms and sneezes.)

Masonic Boom, Tuesday, 19 August 2008 16:15 (seventeen years ago)

My brother and I started saying 'thank you' to each other after sneezing though. Minor sibling in-joke!

Abbott, Tuesday, 19 August 2008 16:15 (seventeen years ago)

You know what? I have never thought orgasms and sneezes were similar, and I have never understood the oft-made comparison. Would somebody care to explain?

Abbott, Tuesday, 19 August 2008 16:16 (seventeen years ago)

sorry i think it is pretty retarded to have a problem with saying "bless you"

max, Tuesday, 19 August 2008 16:17 (seventeen years ago)

They are both reflexive reactions to stimuli which have both voluntary and involuntary aspects to them.

Masonic Boom, Tuesday, 19 August 2008 16:18 (seventeen years ago)

And you say "Bless you" after them

Tom D., Tuesday, 19 August 2008 16:19 (seventeen years ago)

Jesus of Nazareth's Bukkake Sluts V

Curt1s Stephens, Tuesday, 19 August 2008 16:26 (seventeen years ago)

See I always thought people meant a sneeze FEELS like an orgasm. And before I ever had an orgasm, this lead me to wonder what the big deal was supposed to be.

Abbott, Tuesday, 19 August 2008 16:53 (seventeen years ago)

Ha ha ha, OK, that would be funny. It's a reflex you can try to trigger (albeit through snuff or rampant rabbits, respectively) but you can't just decide at a moment's notice "I am going to sneeze/orgasm." (Though wouldn't it be fairly great if you could.)

Masonic Boom, Tuesday, 19 August 2008 16:56 (seventeen years ago)

I am now trying to imagine what life would be like if there were some OTC thing along the lines of hormonal snuff that could just trigger an orgasm on demand.

Masonic Boom, Tuesday, 19 August 2008 16:57 (seventeen years ago)

So rampant rabbits causing an orgasm-like reflex are what makes 'killing a rabbit' a birth control test. All is clear.

Abbott, Tuesday, 19 August 2008 16:57 (seventeen years ago)

Jesus of Nazareth's Bukkake Sluts V

i just lol'd, morer or lesser involuntarily at that.

someone please bless me.

dell, Tuesday, 19 August 2008 16:58 (seventeen years ago)

K8 I think your product is viable only if it creates dry, flaccid orgasms for men.

Abbott, Tuesday, 19 August 2008 16:58 (seventeen years ago)

Some people are allergic to rabbits, it's true

Tom D., Tuesday, 19 August 2008 16:58 (seventeen years ago)

This product would not be available for men. Their orgasms are too messy.

And the rabbit in the tests never actually DIED in the rabbit tests. It had some kind of hormonal visible pregnancy reaction. I'm going to have to google exactly the whole origin of the urban myth.

Masonic Boom, Tuesday, 19 August 2008 17:00 (seventeen years ago)

i'm the dryest, most flaccid man around. in fact, i'm like jesus on reverse-vivarin.

dell, Tuesday, 19 August 2008 17:00 (seventeen years ago)

Oh man good, I defs do not want to see a Skinny Puppy video about pregnancy tests.

Abbott, Tuesday, 19 August 2008 17:01 (seventeen years ago)

"Dry, flaccid orgasms: the best kind." – Dr. Jarvik

Abbott, Tuesday, 19 August 2008 17:01 (seventeen years ago)

Wait, I'm wrong! Oh noes! The rabbits did die, becuase they had to kill them to get the ovaries out to see the reaction! How awful!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit_Test

(But the rabbit dying was not the signal of pregnancy. All the rabbits died. Poor rabbits.)

Masonic Boom, Tuesday, 19 August 2008 17:01 (seventeen years ago)

I'd like to think that naming the vibrator a rampant rabbit was a tribute to all those poor dead rabbits from before the days of chemical testing. :-(

Masonic Boom, Tuesday, 19 August 2008 17:02 (seventeen years ago)

"They were at it like rabbits"

"What, you mean dying?"

Tom D., Tuesday, 19 August 2008 17:03 (seventeen years ago)

How did we get from sneezing to dead rabbits? I fear this may be all my fault. I'm going to go record shopping or something.

Masonic Boom, Tuesday, 19 August 2008 17:04 (seventeen years ago)


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