"Have a blessed day"

[ChickenAlgebra]

Yeah, someone blogged about that in an e-mail and how it was insulting.

I'm not Christian and I don't find it insulting. Isn't "having a blessed day" inclusive of about every religion?

 

[mamagardener]

When I hear someone say "Blessed" to someone, it makes me think of paganism. I think pagans say it. I have never heard a christian or catholic say it that I know of. Maybe that is why people take offense to it. Me I don't care because I live and let live. I do not go after people because of what they do on their own time, or try to start problems for others because I don't like them for some reason, or their beliefs.

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

Down here I hear it a lot from African American church goers. You also hear it from the pagan folk. Either way, I'm pretty happy to have someone wishing me good things.

 

[Glenmar]

Quote:
Ditto

 

[EweSheep]

When I sneezed, someone would say "Bless you!"

When I gave something or help someone, they would say "Bless your heart!"

Does it offends me? I am agnostic, NOPE, it does not offend me one bit! It just makes me feel good doing it! Like CityGirl said, feels good to have someone wishing me good things. Yep, I agree!

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
Yep, in the South you hear it alot from the african americans, but I have never heard it from a pagan to a NON-pagan. Pagan to pagan yes, it's part of the standard greeting/farewell.

 

[canada-goose]

I think it's pretty much like "have a nice day"; not very meaningful to me, but still kind of nice. If it's meant in a friendly way rather than an "I'm shoving my beliefs in your face because I don't like yours" way, of course.

 

[AquaEyes]

Quote:
I think you hit the nail on the head there -- "intent" is the key. If you know someone would be offended by the phrase (any phrase) and say it anyway, then it's not "the phrase" that was offensive -- it was the intention.

Another thing, kind of unrelated, is that I think "have a nice day" is so played out that when I hear someone say it, I think "ok, this person feels obligated to say something pleasant, which I appreciate, but probably isn't putting much meaning into saying it."

I work in hospitality, and I know that it's rather easy to tweak things and give big differences in results. So when it's time to say goodbye, I don't say "have a nice night" specifically because of what I think when I hear it. Instead, I change out some of the words, and make it into my new "default" (though I actually have a few that I sort of rotate so that I sound original every time). I'll say "have a wonderful evening" or "enjoy the rest of your day" or something similar. The meaning is the same, but the originality brings attention to what I say, rather than letting it fade into obscurity like the commonness of "have a nice night."

And I think many people saying "have a blessed day" have followed a similar pattern of replacing "nice" with "blessed" and similarly let it slip through their lips as their new default, not actually meaning it each and every time.

 

[ChikeeMomma]

Does it bother others if someone says "bless you" when you sneeze? I say that without thinking if I hear someone sneeze!

 

[Iheartchicks<3:)]

Quote:
I HATE being called that. Especially by those who are around the same age as me. It comes of as degrading.