Comments on: Superstitions

By: Sherman Gibbs

Sherman Gibbs — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 19:53:52 +0000

It annoys me when someone says “Bless you” when I sneeze. Wonder why it isnt done when one passes gas?

By: jaramilr

jaramilr — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 21:53:42 +0000

I’m glad to see I’m not alone in being bothered by strangers publicly blessing me after a sneeze.

I stopped saying anything after sneezes but my wife insists that I at least say Gesundheit. She’s not religious, she just thinks it’s good manners. She isn’t very sympathetic to my arguments against so I’ll try them out on you instead :)

First of all, we tend not to say anything to strangers after other involuntary bodily noises (or smells), so why sneezes?

Second, with the religious part, I usually think to myself “bless me? Why me? I’m doing alright. Why not bless someone who needs it (or who believes in that kind of thing). What makes you think I, a total stranger, need a blessing right now?”.

Third, it usually seems like people rush to say “bless you” not because they really are concerned about my well being but because they are afraid something bad (socially, metaphysically?) will happen if they don’t. Seems a little creepy.

Fourth, even without the religious part, saying something after a sneeze is a little intrusive, especially when the blesser goes back to ignoring the blessee immediately after. If you’re going to disrupt someone’s train of thought at least have something interesting to say. Chances are the person you interrupt was thinking hard about a very long and detailed rant about the evils of saying “bless you” after a sneeze which you have just forcibly ended.

By: Tina Marshall

Tina Marshall — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 22:13:55 +0000

I found a great post about superstitions on Peterman’s Eye today that I think you’ll enjoy!

http://www.petermanseye.com/curiosities/history/400-believe-it-or-else

Cheers!

By: Step To It Science Superstitions (I Don’t Cheerlead In These Shoes)

Step To It Science Superstitions (I Don’t Cheerlead In These Shoes) — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:23:25 +0000

[...] one by another skeptic, however, features quite a lot of confusion on his part as to what superstition actually means – Mark Edward writes: ‘I would like to hear about and investigate those unsubstantiated [...]

By: my VMgolf was named fred

my VMgolf was named fred — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 23:03:38 +0000

oh and, sorry i totally forgot i wanted to mention this. To the people trying to figure out how to side step the little religious stuff, god bless you and all. Dont worry about it. Until its getting in your way who cares what gibberish is the polite response to this or that. “God Bless you”, “god forbid”, whatever i have no plans of changing “god dam” or “jesus fucking christ” so whats the diff.

By: my VMgolf was named fred

my VMgolf was named fred — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 22:51:02 +0000

what about the anthropomorphizing of the complicated machines we use every day, does that count? you know like when somebody names their car and speaks about its mood when its not running well

By: Kerry Held

Kerry Held — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 22:07:04 +0000

I have one thing I wanted to say here. It’s that mentioning a bad event will make it come true. I have a guy I carpool with to work. We work as Police Officers and have both been doing it for many years. We like things as quiet as possible (most cops do). We work in a small town and don’t get that many calls during a shift.If I say something like ” we had 3 car accidents and a DWI yesterday, I hope we don’t get that today” he always cuts me off before I even finish and says ” don’t even mention it”. “I’m just saying I hope we don’t get it……”. ” please stop, don’t say anything”. Actually it’s weird but almost everyone there seems to do this same thing. Next time I’m going to make a big point about saying “car accidents, burglaries, DWI’s , and bank robberies” as much as I can and tell them to take notice of what happens. I guess according to them we should have a crime wave. By the way this only works with bad things.
I have a question too. As an Atheist what can I say instead of “God forbid” ? Example “If Aunt Tina dies, God forbid, she we leave her estate to her daughter Jen”. It’s kind of hard to stick ” I really really really hope it doesn’t happen” in there.

By: ddr

ddr — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:02:57 +0000

Wonko’s Apprentice: My time of the year to hunker down and be careful is the time span between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Any time I’ve been shot, shot at, stabbed, had my eyes gouged, had my car rammed or had people commit suicide in front of me has been in that time period. Of course, all that stuff happens less often since I retired from the police department. But still, my caution remains.

The superstition that bugs me the most? Not mentioning something because you will jinx it. Mostly this is a sports thing. Like if a pitcher has a no hitter going in baseball and the announcer brings it up, people get all upset because he may have jinxed the no hitter. Or watching a football game and the announcer says that the quarterback has not thrown any interceptions or been sacked. Like speaking some words is going to change the fabric of reality.

By: Max

Max — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:37:13 +0000

What about the modern equivalent of the chain letters, email and all there related ilk.

when i have confronted people about it, they say “i know it’s not real but why take a chance?”

By: Jim

Jim — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 21:21:29 +0000

Since* hehe sorry