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July 23, 2004

Etiquette Question

When people sneeze multiple times in succession, are you supposed to say "God bless you" after every sneeze or can you just say it after the first sneeze?

Posted by annika, Jul. 23, 2004 |
Rubric: Pithy and/or Lame Thoughts



Comments

Three times, max.

Posted by: d-rod on Jul. 23, 2004

I wait until they're completely finished with all sneezing before blessing a sneezer. There may be a little pause before my blessing, but I only want to do it once. More than that is unnecessary redundance, imho. ;-)

Posted by: jen on Jul. 23, 2004

I'm usually the one doing the sneezing....and I'm usually too bunched up to say thank you each time, soooo wait till they are done.
One of my coworkers claims that the number of sneezes correlates to a measure of sexual performance, so she always follows up an especially bad sneezing fit with "what are you doing this friday?" ..."blowing my nose", I reply.

T

Posted by: TB StLouis on Jul. 23, 2004

First sneeze only. If they sneeze again after that, the blessing obviously didn't work.

Posted by: Xrlq on Jul. 23, 2004

I say it once within any one sneezing episode. If it is repeated after more than a minute has lapsed, I keep at it. XRLQ gives up to easily. Sometimes God is a bit deaf, and needs repetition.

Posted by: Hugo on Jul. 23, 2004

I say "God Bless You", after the first. If the sneezing episode goes on, I might ask "Do you need a mop and bucket, or will this roll of paper towels do the trick?" :D

Posted by: Desert Cat on Jul. 23, 2004

Sure, you can sat it after the second sneeze, but what if they then enter a sneezing fit? I’ve been in situations where the affected has sneezed more than twenty times in succession. It’s not pretty. It’s not pretty when it happens. We need to think about that before we decide to utter "god bless you" a second time.

Posted by: Dan on Jul. 23, 2004

This reminds me of my friend Sherri, who invariably sneezes in threes. Those close to her know to wait to be sure, but if there is any doubt, she'll hold up an index finger indicating "wait a minute" to tell the potential blesser to hold off. Obviously she considers a multiple for one blessing to be the standard.

Posted by: Jay Solo on Jul. 23, 2004

OK, I have admit that my father used to follow a formula.

The first time, he'd say "God Bless you". After the second one, he'd say "And keep you", and after the third one he'd say "From your loving wife and children".

I never understood what he meant until I grew up and actually had them.

Now, I say it, too.

Posted by: shelly s. on Jul. 25, 2004

I think you are supposed to say it first normally, the second time with your voice raised, and then the third time you are supposed to make a pithy and/or lame comment about dust, what's been going around, or mention that one could die by sneezing.

Posted by: fairest on Jul. 26, 2004

My wife says excuse me after sneezing. I believe this is only necessary for burping not sneezing. Am I right. God bless you from me should be sufficient.

Posted by: dermot nolan on Aug. 3, 2004

ok, first of all, ya'll are crazy. My friend and I have decided you must wait five seconds before blessing someone to ensure no redundancy in the blessings.

Posted by: Sneezers anonymous on Apr. 30, 2005

I say "Bess you" only after they say "Excuse me" and if they sneeze 3 times I add "Now there's a cry for attention"

Posted by: Dale on Sep. 19, 2005

I issue a 'blanket' bless you, good for the next 24 hours, to cover multiple sneezes.

Posted by: Tom Scott on Oct. 3, 2005