This scenario happens a lot:
Me: *coughitycough*
Them: Bless you!
Me: Thanks.
Them: Wait--did you sneeze or cough?
Me: That was a cough.
Them: Oh. Never mind, then.
What the heck?
They'll bless me if I sneeze but a cough somehow doesn't rank a blessing?
Am I any less in need of a blessing if I cough than if I sneeze?
Now I'm not generally one to turn down a blessing from anybody but based on their "only sneeze" policy, when I do sneeze and they bless me, how much stock should I put into it?
Now that you wrote about this, I guess I only say bless you when someone sneezes. If I said that everytime someone coughs too, I think that's all I would say most days.
ReplyDeleteIf you were in China, you would be regulated by the government's "One Sneeze Policy," under which you receive a blessing only for your first sneeze. If you sneeze more than once, you not only don't get a blessing, but you have to go to a Sneeze Reeducation Center at which you learn about the evils of "Sneezeism." Subsequent violations can end you up in jail. Count your blessings. So to speak.
ReplyDeleteSean: It's okay if you don't bless me. Just don't take it back if you do.
ReplyDeleteBilbo: I am a very blessed indeed.