Gesundheit

I was in class during my undergrad when somebody three aisles over sneezed. The student on the other side of me said softly, under her breath, like an automatic habit, "bless you." It wouldn't have been heard by anyone farther away than me. I wondered if she felt compelled to say bless you after somebody, anybody sneezes; a compulsion that forced the words out at a whisper during class.

Then began an increasing awareness of how people responded to sneezes, how the responses to sneezing were different than those for coughing. I noticed how people would say "bless you" or God bless you" or "Gesundheit" or "salud." I noticed how common these remarks were, and how people seemed to take a personal interest in your sneezes, asking if you have allergies.

All of this was different for me, but I wasn't sure if it was a general North Dakota thing, or just my family. We always ignored other people's sneezes; just pretended it wasn't happening. Sometimes we'd even apologize for sneezing, like my mother saying "oh, excuse me!" after a particularly loud sneeze or a series.

I have a tendency to stop my sneezes before they happen and, until I actually tried to "open up" and "let the sneezes out" I continually received comments like "was that a laugh or are you crying?" "are you okay?" "You need to open up when you sneeze. It's not good for you to sneeze like that!"

So other people bless you with health or God's protection, wondering if you're okay. I always thought you should smother your sneezes or at least apologize for inconveniencing other people for the noise.