Bless Me?

I got to spend the last few days in Nebraska for my sister's All-State choir performance.  Just to pat her on the back a little, I'll explain.  To be a member of All-State Music is one of the most prestigious honors one can achieve in the state.  Students are only allowed to try out from 10-12th grade.  Of 3,000 people that auditioned for the choir, 440 made it.  My sister has been one of those students for the last three years.  She was one of only 14 three-peats in the choir.  Basically, she's amazing.

Since I've been in Utah all the years she's made it, I've never been able to attend.  So my parents decided I needed to be there for her final concert, since it's her senior year.  I hardly complained.  

But that's not the point of this.  I have a bad habit of beginning my posts with unrelated stories.  Anywho, while I was there I noticed something.  I'd known it was the case for sometime, but when I really started to pay attention, it was more apparent than I realized:

People don't say "BLESS YOU" in UTAH!

Of course, there are exceptions.  For example, I found that people in my smaller, more intimate English classes are more likely to say "bless you" than those in my large lecture classes.

But nothing compares to the Nebraska-way.  Everywhere you go, complete strangers "bless you" whenever you sneeze.  In the airport, the airplane, the zoo, a restaurant.  No matter where you go, people are constantly polite enough to offer a blessing when you sneeze.  I don't know why it's such a big deal to me, but I like it when people respond to my shooting-of-snot. Not because I need to be blessed.  I just like the common courtesy