An American living in Australia is “surprised” that Australians don’t show the same courtesy she does when someone nearby sneezes, and many agree with her.
Ellie Drabik A 27-year-old woman from Atlanta, Georgia, has been living in Perth for more than four years and is still shocked when locals refuse to say “bless her” after she sneezes.
Ellie spoke to FEMAIL and explained that not saying “bless you” when someone sneezes would be considered extremely rude and a huge faux pas in the United States.
The expat, who has “trained” her Australian fiancé to bless her, can’t get over the culture shock of sneezing in front of others only to be met with radio silence.
“I never realized how strange this was until I moved to Australia and I’m wondering if it’s just me,” he said in a video.
“When I was a kid, I always, always, always said bless you when someone sneezed, whether I knew them or not.”
Ellie stuck to her southern ways in Australia and continued to bless “strangers” on the street, but never managed to win any back.
“Like I would sneeze and I wouldn’t be blessed,” she said.
Ellie Drabik, a 27-year-old from Atlanta, Georgia, has been living in Perth for more than four years, but she is still surprised when Australians don’t say “bless you” to her after she sneezes.
The expat said it is extremely “rude” in America not to say the phrase to friends or strangers and many Australians agreed it is dying out among younger generations.
‘Is this an American thing or an Ellie thing that I’ve taken on and that I should be blessed and bless everyone?’
Thousands of people weighed in on the video and were divided over whether the phrase was still part of the nation’s proper etiquette, with many insisting on always using it.
‘I’m Australian and I’ve said it all my life to family, friends or strangers. It’s good manners,’ said one.
“I grew up saying it… you already get a blessing with one or two sneezes and you’re on your own,” added another.
Others argued that this was an old-fashioned mannerism that was “disappearing” across the country.
“It’s definitely disappearing,” said one.
“It’s weird to hear but it still happens,” added another.
Many Australians thought that whether you say “bless you” to a stranger after sneezing largely depends on which generation you belong to.
“I’m a good Australian and I always say it, I rarely get it from young people but I always get it from people my age, it’s generational,” one said.
“Generation X would probably say it,” added another.
“Generation X here and I totally agree,” chimed in a third.
But one millennial said she uses “bless you” all the time and has also taught her children to do the same.
Some people suspected that the reason the phrase was not as popular in Australia was because many Australians do not consider themselves religious.
“I don’t need the blessing, I don’t like people telling me that at all,” said one woman.
One man thought the phrase did not belong in polite conversation.
“What good manners are like, it’s just superstition,” he said.
“Manners are subjective anyway,” another added.