Go bless yourself!

All the New York visitors' guidebooks tell you important cultural differences you should know when you come to this city, such as how much to tip, how the subway system works, and how to avoid getting lost in the wrong part of town (actually that's a lie, there really is no wrong part of town these days). But I think they should add another American cultural thingo into the books - the obsession with saying 'Bless you' when someone sneezes. I know it's done back home too but not with the fervour and intensity of the yanks. If you sneeze at the office, less than a fraction of a second later, literally everyone within earshot shouts 'Bless you!'. If you sneeze in a shop changing room people in neighbouring changing rooms shout it. I hate this custom. Sneezing, especially when you don't have a tissue, is a private experience for me. I don't need the world telling me they heard it. Nobody's dying from a sneeze attack. If anything they should be blessing the coughers, coughs can be fatal. I'm not blessing anybody anymore, I refuse. Hopefully I am not hated by society come hayfever season.