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all right let me paint you a picture
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you're at a party in America
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everything's going smoothly and then
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someone sneezes instantly every head
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turns and at least five people blurt out
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"Bless you." Like it's a sacred ritual
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but why why do Americans get so weirdly
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intense about one little sneeze let's
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break it down the phrase bless you
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actually goes way back like ancient Rome
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back people believe that when you
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sneezed your soul could literally pop
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out of your body for a second yeah I
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know dramatic saying bless you was like
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spiritual bubble wrap kind of hoping
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your soul wouldn't just wander off and
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do its own thing or worse let something
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evil sneak in because germs in the air
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weren't scary enough apparently fast
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forward to today and Americans still
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can't help themselves sneezing boom
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bless you it's almost like an Olympic
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sport over here who can say it first who
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says it the loudest sometimes it gets
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competitive ever sneezed three times in
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a row and had to keep track of how many
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blessings you racked up or maybe you
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sneeze and nobody says it ouch now
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you're just awkwardly waiting for that
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social blessing here's the funny part no
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one actually believes your soul is in
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danger anymore but for some reason in
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America not saying bless you after a
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sneeze is like forgetting someone's
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birthday you risk looking rude or worse
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a little bit unamerican and get this
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it's such a habit that Americans will
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say "Bless you" to total strangers on
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the bus in the grocery store even in a
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crowded elevator it's like "Hey I don't
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know you but I care deeply about
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whatever just exploded out of your
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face." Only in the United States right
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meanwhile in other parts of the world
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people just ignore it or maybe they'll
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throw a polite gassundite your way which
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actually means health in German but in
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the US bless you is king it's almost
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like a social glue a weird little moment
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of connection between people who might
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never speak again so the next time
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you're in America and someone sneezes
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don't panic just jump in with a bless
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you and you'll fit right in or you know
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sneeze and see how many bless you can
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collect it's like Pokémon but with more
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tissues and that's the hilarious truth
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behind why Americans can't stop blessing
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sneezes weird absolutely but honestly
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kind of charming too thanks for watching
