I am sure many of you have heard me ranting about saying "bless you" after one sneezes, but this really has me bothered so I shall not be silenced yet. I am aware of the multiple origins of the practice, so I am not asking where it came from. I am wondering why we still do it, and yes I am aware that the answer is most likely tradition. This bothers me though and I shall explain why later, for now let us dive into this sneezing problem...
Someone near me sneezes, without thinking really I say, bless you. After that, they then say to me thank you. I then go on to live my unexamined life and eat toast. NOT!!! Why did I just say that? And why did they thank me? It's not like when one expels gas from their body and they say excuse me. I understand that in many societies it is rude to belch or pass gas in a public setting for their expel unpleasant noises and smells. Hence you say excuse me post releasing the gas. It is not the case for sneezing. Sneezing is an action your body performs without you have much say, you can try very very hard to not sneeze, but let's face it... it's gonna happen. And unless you send mucus and saliva onto someone's body or property it really does not harm anyone else. So why do they say bless you after you sneeze?
One of the origins of this practice is that it came from back when the black plague was still relevant. If one were to sneeze, it probably meant they had the plague and they were fucked, so you said bless you to them for their time was limited. Another theory is that people believed that when you sneezed you were expelling demons from your body. Another very unrealistic theory I have heard is that when you sneeze your heart stops beating for a moment so you said bless you to the sneezer for they could have died. Now unless you are stuck in the past or are way way way into evil demon stuff I doubt these thoughts cross your mind when you hear someone sneeze.
We say bless you because we have been programmed to. I know that the only reason why I say it without a second though was that I was brought up that way, and always heard my parents say it. Let's break this down. You get a tickle in your nose, and you then sneeze. Someone near you says bless you. All they have just done is let you know that they have taken note of the fact that you just expelled some foreign object from your nose that was not supposed to be there. Keep in mind that this could also be done with them saying, "You sneezed", or, "Great job expelling objects from your nose!" or by not just saying anything at all, because who really cares if people know if you sneeze or not. After they have made it known that they know you have sneezed, you then thank them for noticing. Yeah I think it sounds pretty stupid too...
Now I know this is all rather dumb to break down and spell out, but I do have a point. Millions of people do this everyday and never question why. They do it simply because that is what is done. This scares me for the fact that I begin to then think what else is done and thought and put into common practice every day that we never question? What have we all been programmed to do? Not that all of these traditions are bad, but it has the potential to. Please question things, please step back and ask why. You will feel a lot better about yourself, and perhaps your can sneeze without obligations anymore.
Now it's MUSIC TIME!!!
I just like this song, no real reason other then the fact that it's Matt and Kim and they kick butt.
Matt and Kim -
I'll Take Us Home (<----- Click there to listen, right click and go to save as to download)
Lyrics:
pull out all the stops
we are coming home tonight
a pair of old boxing gloves
in a new fight
where every single scar
well it means something to me
as if life wrote down my history
bottles and road signs
sound like tires on bent wheels
our hands and feet and ordinary thrills
when we unlocked all the doors
just so we could finally breathe
just so we could sew down these torn up sleeves
here we stand with a wolf like shadow
here we stand in the end
hey New York here's our wolf like shadow
hey New York our old friend
this roof could be my bed
blankets feel like the night sky
blankets feel better the heavier they get
red lights can mean go
I'll take us home
I'll take us home
cut down the blinds from my windows
I stood back on the couch
remembered this is my life
with my hands over my head
friends by my side
here is where we'll go
I'll take us home
