7 ms·

Expecting that people should control their sneezes is a ridiculous cultural norm.

by tcfunk 9y ago

protonfish 9y ago
And what about saying "bless you?" People sure have superstitious hangups about sneezing. And I don't mind, it doesn't hurt anything, until I get a sarcastic "you're welcome" from people for not thanking them for blessing me. I seriously don't get that. When did saying "bless you" require an official display of gratitude? I didn't ask for anything and would just like to sneeze in peace, please.
- Toast_25 9y ago
  I've never personally seen it as something religious, just being nice and in my country it's considered being well-mannered. That being said in my country we don't say "bless you", a literal translation to what we say would be "health". When I visit other countries it feels weird that nobody says anything when people sneeze. But I realize that's a cultural thing and try to avoid saying "Bless you".
- gumby 9y ago
  Thank the sneezer instead. If they wonder why you thanked them you can thank them for the aerosol of bacteria and crud they sent your way. In east Asia it's customary for sick people to wear masks to avoid spreading disease via coughing or sneezing. A practice that ought to be adopted everywhere. I know I'm promoting a passive-aggressive strategy which is also social corrosive, but it's a way of spreading (!) the meme. And don't say "Gesundheit" because you think "bless you" is religious -- saying Gesundheit is simply non-denominationally superstitious.
  - gertef 9y ago
    "Gesundheit" means "health". Sneezing is an indicator of health risk. It's a tradition, not a superstition.
  - collyw 9y ago
    "In east Asia it's customary for sick people to wear masks to avoid spreading disease via coughing or sneezing. A practice that ought to be adopted everywhere." Toughen up people! We don't eat food off the floor because it would probably give us a bad stomach. Eating "hygienically" is a practice that we have adopted. Dogs eat stuff off the floor all the time. Have they evolved a more advanced immune system than ours? Or just kept it well trained?
    - gumby 9y ago
      Dogs adopt the strategy of "eat first, ask questions later" (as pack animals that eat garbage, carrion etc). So they are quick to vomit up something that causes trouble. Also they are more likely than humans to eat stuff that will kill them. As for their immune system, inbreeding of dogs has caused all sorts of susceptibilities, though overall humans are a better vector for disease (density, widespread distribution, gregariousness, etc). Also humans worry about disease symptoms that dogs and other animals stoically ignore and thus the disease can go unnoticed by the human. (e.g. a bit of diarrhoea dribbling uncontrollably out your backside will probably concern you but a dog will just put up with it -- though an owner will likely object!) .
- trhway 9y ago
  >And what about saying "bless you?" correct answer to that is "not in your lifetime" (from the joke about a very old very rich grandpa who sneezes and his relatives :)
- kingkawn 9y ago
  I think you are too comfortable casually dismissing a cultural behavior that has existed across different forms for millenia. Perhaps there are interpersonal, cultural, body-language, psychological, and other ways that this behavior is important to us, and your certainty at its unimportance seems out-of-proportion to its continued prevalence and an over-estimation of the quality of the possible completeness of your analysis.
jackhack 9y ago
Expecting sick people to not fill a room with hundreds of millions of aerosolized particles when that could be clearly avoided is a result of simple respect for those around you and evidence of manners and good breeding. Cover your sneeze. Cover your cough. Stay home when sick. These are kindergarten-level cultural learnings.
- WorldMaker 9y ago
  Arguably it is kindergarten where a lot of Americans learn the wrong lessons. Kindergartens for most of us were the first open plan offices with terrible inhumane absence policies that most of us experienced.
  - DanBC 9y ago
    Current childcare policies are causing public health problems by keeping children away when not needed, or requiring courses of not needed antibiotics before the child is allowed back.
- whoru007 9y ago
  > Cover your sneeze. Cover your cough. Stay home when sick. These are kindergarten-level cultural learnings. A friend/colleague of mine is suffering from Chronic sinusitis and she usually sneezes every morning for around 20-30 times (random number, I know!) over period of few hours. The 'sneezing fit' is 100% of the time non-contagious yet loud and 'full with watery substance', She covers her sneezing most of the time however it is not always possible to react in time. Also, she's a single working mother raising two well mannered and cute children. Would you expect her to always stay home when she's always 'sick'? These kindergarten-level cultural learnings you are talking about are societal pressure, we inhale pollutants, pollens and smoke from cigarettes all the time!
  - d23 9y ago
    Be realistic. We're talking about the 99.9% of other people who don't have that condition.
Robotbeat 9y ago
Really? It seems like pretty much the most justified cultural norm I can imagine. Stopping/slowing the spread of disease is one of the only good reasons to even have cultural norms.
graphitezepp 9y ago
I disagree, vehemently in fact. It's not a hard thing to do.
Tharkun 9y ago
I frequently sneeze with so much force that I pop a little vein in my eyes. I even bruised a rib sneezing once. Anything that can help mitigate this is great in my book.
jayess 9y ago
Is this sarcasm?
michaelmrose 9y ago
What culture are you thinking of?

Expecting that people should control their sneezes is a ridiculous cultural norm.

by tcfunk 9y ago

Expecting that people should control their sneezes is a ridiculous cultural norm.

And what about saying "bless you?" People sure have superstitious hangups about sneezing. And I don't mind, it doesn't hurt anything, until I get a sarcastic "you're welcome" from people for not thanking them for blessing me. I seriously don't get that. When did saying "bless you" require an official display of gratitude? I didn't ask for anything and would just like to sneeze in peace, please.

Toast_25 9y ago
I've never personally seen it as something religious, just being nice and in my country it's considered being well-mannered. That being said in my country we don't say "bless you", a literal translation to what we say would be "health". When I visit other countries it feels weird that nobody says anything when people sneeze. But I realize that's a cultural thing and try to avoid saying "Bless you".
gumby 9y ago
Thank the sneezer instead. If they wonder why you thanked them you can thank them for the aerosol of bacteria and crud they sent your way. In east Asia it's customary for sick people to wear masks to avoid spreading disease via coughing or sneezing. A practice that ought to be adopted everywhere. I know I'm promoting a passive-aggressive strategy which is also social corrosive, but it's a way of spreading (!) the meme. And don't say "Gesundheit" because you think "bless you" is religious -- saying Gesundheit is simply non-denominationally superstitious.
- gertef 9y ago
  "Gesundheit" means "health". Sneezing is an indicator of health risk. It's a tradition, not a superstition.
- collyw 9y ago
  "In east Asia it's customary for sick people to wear masks to avoid spreading disease via coughing or sneezing. A practice that ought to be adopted everywhere." Toughen up people! We don't eat food off the floor because it would probably give us a bad stomach. Eating "hygienically" is a practice that we have adopted. Dogs eat stuff off the floor all the time. Have they evolved a more advanced immune system than ours? Or just kept it well trained?
  - gumby 9y ago
    Dogs adopt the strategy of "eat first, ask questions later" (as pack animals that eat garbage, carrion etc). So they are quick to vomit up something that causes trouble. Also they are more likely than humans to eat stuff that will kill them. As for their immune system, inbreeding of dogs has caused all sorts of susceptibilities, though overall humans are a better vector for disease (density, widespread distribution, gregariousness, etc). Also humans worry about disease symptoms that dogs and other animals stoically ignore and thus the disease can go unnoticed by the human. (e.g. a bit of diarrhoea dribbling uncontrollably out your backside will probably concern you but a dog will just put up with it -- though an owner will likely object!) .
trhway 9y ago
>And what about saying "bless you?" correct answer to that is "not in your lifetime" (from the joke about a very old very rich grandpa who sneezes and his relatives :)
kingkawn 9y ago
I think you are too comfortable casually dismissing a cultural behavior that has existed across different forms for millenia. Perhaps there are interpersonal, cultural, body-language, psychological, and other ways that this behavior is important to us, and your certainty at its unimportance seems out-of-proportion to its continued prevalence and an over-estimation of the quality of the possible completeness of your analysis.

jackhack 9y ago

Expecting sick people to not fill a room with hundreds of millions of aerosolized particles when that could be clearly avoided is a result of simple respect for those around you and evidence of manners and good breeding. Cover your sneeze. Cover your cough. Stay home when sick. These are kindergarten-level cultural learnings.

WorldMaker 9y ago
Arguably it is kindergarten where a lot of Americans learn the wrong lessons. Kindergartens for most of us were the first open plan offices with terrible inhumane absence policies that most of us experienced.
- DanBC 9y ago
  Current childcare policies are causing public health problems by keeping children away when not needed, or requiring courses of not needed antibiotics before the child is allowed back.
whoru007 9y ago
> Cover your sneeze. Cover your cough. Stay home when sick. These are kindergarten-level cultural learnings. A friend/colleague of mine is suffering from Chronic sinusitis and she usually sneezes every morning for around 20-30 times (random number, I know!) over period of few hours. The 'sneezing fit' is 100% of the time non-contagious yet loud and 'full with watery substance', She covers her sneezing most of the time however it is not always possible to react in time. Also, she's a single working mother raising two well mannered and cute children. Would you expect her to always stay home when she's always 'sick'? These kindergarten-level cultural learnings you are talking about are societal pressure, we inhale pollutants, pollens and smoke from cigarettes all the time!
- d23 9y ago
  Be realistic. We're talking about the 99.9% of other people who don't have that condition.

Robotbeat 9y ago

Really? It seems like pretty much the most justified cultural norm I can imagine. Stopping/slowing the spread of disease is one of the only good reasons to even have cultural norms.

graphitezepp 9y ago

I disagree, vehemently in fact. It's not a hard thing to do.

Tharkun 9y ago

I frequently sneeze with so much force that I pop a little vein in my eyes. I even bruised a rib sneezing once. Anything that can help mitigate this is great in my book.

jayess 9y ago

Is this sarcasm?

michaelmrose 9y ago

What culture are you thinking of?