No More , "Bless You".
By Kandase
@Kandae11 (57233)
March 14, 2022 9:58am CST
First of all l should mention that my internet service has been out for the past three days. It came back today - and here am l. Now for my topic.
From childhood days l remember hearing someone saying -"bless you" when another person sneezes.The person who sneezed could be a family member, close friend or even a stranger.
Things are different now. During the height of the Covid pandemic, people were afraid - and still are - afraid to sneeze or cough in public, especially in the supermarket, in a line at the bank or in public transport. You could receive a dirty look or worse.- - No more blessings.
I recall the incident where a passenger was booted out of a bus after sneezing. I am not sure if he was wearing a mask or not..
Have you experienced any extreme behaviour by others - or even yourself - during the pandemic?
I don't know if this can be considered extreme, but l do sanitize every piece of grocery that l purchase.
Image from pixabay.
17 people like this
14 responses
@Vikingswest1 (7443)
• United States
14 Mar 22
I started sanitizing groceries after watching a TV program 20 years ago.
I have seen several people confront others for not wearing masks and another member here said she was confronted because she WAS wearing a mask, although I'm not sure I believe her story now.
I am self conscious about sneezing or clearing my throat in public. You never know when you'll run across some nut that thinks you're threatening humanity.
I wonder if the tradition of blowing out Birthday candles has ended now too?
3 people like this
@Vikingswest1 (7443)
• United States
14 Mar 22
@Kandae11
I wonder if, after Covid passes, people will mask up during seasonal flu season?
60k Americans die every year from seasonal flu and the CDC states that seasonal flu kills between 291k and 646k every year worldwide.
Shouldn't the same precautions be used for another deadly virus?
1 person likes this
@Kandae11 (57233)
•
14 Mar 22
@Vikingswest1 l do not think the flu is as easy to catch as the covid variants. Whenever my son catches a cold and l am around him - he is there sneezing, blowing his nose depositing tissues which l pick up. - and l never catch it and l am not wearing a mask or being very careful either. Things have changed though, if he catches a cold now , he won't be getting the same precovid treatment.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (86568)
• United States
14 Mar 22
I’m old so I’ll still say “bless you” to people who sneeze. I don’t care what kind of germs they are or aren’t spreading.
When it started I wiped down my groceries, but I stopped doing it after a few months. That’s probably how I ended up with covid in 2020. 
3 people like this
@FourWalls (86568)
• United States
14 Mar 22
@Kandae11 — I carried hand sanitizer in my car long before the pandemic to clean my hands after pumping gasoline.
2 people like this
@Kandae11 (57233)
•
14 Mar 22
It is hard to divert from certain habits ingrained in you. I am guilty of not saying "bless you" of late- but then l didn't say it much even before covid.However l would never give someone a cross look , who sneezes. I sanitize my hands after handling money.
2 people like this
@much2say (57760)
• Los Angeles, California
14 Mar 22
I will still say bless you no matter what out of habit.
I know sneezes can't be helped sometimes . . . but I would hope someone would be masked and still sneeze in their inner elbow. During winter, I saw a few people taking off their masks in the store and blow their noses in a tissue in the produce section 
- then flip their mask back on to continue shopping. So no hand washing or hand sanitizing then? Not cool to me.
I do still quarantine food/things in the garage - and then clean each item off well (soap and warm water if I can), but I don't do it with sanitizers.
- then flip their mask back on to continue shopping. So no hand washing or hand sanitizing then? Not cool to me.
I do still quarantine food/things in the garage - and then clean each item off well (soap and warm water if I can), but I don't do it with sanitizers.1 person likes this
@much2say (57760)
• Los Angeles, California
15 Mar 22
@Kandae11 I do wipe down / sanitize my cart whenever possible and use hand sanitizer after shopping too. I didn't want to use harsh chemicals for cleaning food in case it leached into the food. So that's why I just clean with soap and water. Right - it's so gross and really inconsiderate for someone to blow their nose in the store like that . . . if it were me (and it's happened), I put my stuff down and run outside if I even have a choking attack . . . and then use sanitizer or wash up in the restroom if I can before going back. We have to think "clean" for ourselves but be mindful to others too. It's sad (and dangerous) that some people just aren't mindful that way.
1 person likes this
@Kandae11 (57233)
•
14 Mar 22
I keep a bottle with diluted bleach which l use to sanitize my store bought items. You see how germs can spread.? They blow their nose in a tissue , flip on back the mask and continue shopping - which means , they are handling produce with unwashed or unsanitized hands.
2 people like this
@kaylachan (84701)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
14 Mar 22
Yes, that's extreme.
Being totally blind, I don't see the looks people give me. Being in a wheelchair, alone, is going to get me stares. So, I don't honestly care. But, one time in walmart, this guy (wearing a mask) ran around me and down an asile, probably beccause I wasn't wearing a mask.
1 person likes this
@kaylachan (84701)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
15 Mar 22
@Kandae11 Yes, I don't know if that were the case or not, or if I were blocking the asiles. But, it is what it is. You're always going to have that one person that does that one thing that doesn't make sense to you. Masks are a thing of the past for most people now, but you'll find some who still wear them.
1 person likes this
@snowy22315 (208746)
• United States
14 Mar 22
Only the extreme behavior of not wearing a mask when it was mandated.
1 person likes this
@RebeccasFarm (91299)
• United States
15 Mar 22
Yes I personally have not been around many people at all during this pandemic, so I have not experienced this.
As far as saying bless you, people can't seem to say anything now at all.
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (174208)
• United States
14 Mar 22
Pretty and I are still wearing out masks and we do get dirty looks sometimes. Nobody has ever said anything but a lot of people in our city are Republicans and believed Trump when he claimed the virus wasn't real. Most of them NEVER wore masks.
1 person likes this
@Dena91 (17029)
• United States
15 Mar 22
I thought that when they put the signs in the aisles to say which way to go it was stupid. I went up and down the aisle the way I always have and had an elderly couple yell at me. I just kept on shopping and ignored them. Sad people were that afraid.
And when someone sneezes I still say bless you no matter where we are at.
1 person likes this
@db20747 (43419)
• Washington, District Of Columbia
20 Mar 22
Yes, a lady sneezed the biggest sneeze she could on the bus and I opened my mouth and said why the heck would you sneeze with your maksk down on your face?!?!?! She said I'm vaccinated. But this don't mean a hill of beans!! There's covid, flu and a thousand other things. I also yelled at some people to put their mask on at Starbucks , the people who work there. This just is not funny to me!
1 person likes this
