I would *love *to see a Smileh Kitteh Jehoveh, though.
I wish I knew you, so I could take you to lunch. On the way out we could pass by this woman’s desk and when she said “I’m blessed”, I could say “Congratulations! When are you due?” while making eye contact with her waistline.
I vote for unprofessional. Professional correspondence is closed with Sincerely yours, Kind regards, or Yr obt servant, not invocations.
Huh? What did I say that was unprofessional? Basically what I was saying is that there’s no way to professionally say ANYTHING back to people who say that without it being construed as unprofessional, and that’s what bugs me about it.
That’s nice. I don’t know that about you unless you say so though, so if you didn’t, I’d refrain.
No more or less unprofessional than the coworker who says “bless you” after a sneeze at work. It means nothing to me. Maybe a religious non-Christian would be offended, but as a completely non-religious person, I’m not.
You didn’t say anything unprofessional. But assuming the worst about a coworker, which plainly is what you advocated doing, on the basis of a throwaway line which is not meant to be denigrating at the bottom of an email is a far greater sin against professionalism than saying “Have a blessed day.”
Just read what you posted above: your complaint is that there is no way to professionally communicate your dissatisfaction. Well, of course not, because professionalism involves confronting things that you might not choose to do yourself, or even understand why other people might choose to do them, without finding that state of affairs to be an invitation to express your disapproval.
I assumed at first that it was a pagan, but they’re a lot more common / open in California than other places
But what about those who enjoy feeling aggrieved and outraged?
Experience tells me that anyone who tells me to have a blessed day is among those people.
That’s a good point. I don’t think I’ve actually ever seen any sign-offs other than the pages-long disclaimers insisted on by some companies. At least, not as embedded signatures; “have a good weekend” and the like are quite common, but it’s part of the body of the email and between people who regularly correspond.
It would also be an odd one to include automatically in an email which wasn’t cheery and positive. “We regret that we are unable to refund your payment for this order. Have a blessed day!”
“Darling Fascist Bully-boy…”
I’m in California and never ever would’ve made a religious connection to the simple use of the word “blessed” or “blessings”. Of course, context is key and if it’s tied to other Christian phrases or an evangelical personality, then I can see the possibility for offense based on the presumptuousness of the user.
But the OP did not specify that–only the use of the phrase and the knee-jerk “godless heathen” overreaction. I don’t think it’s unprofessional but I personally prefer to use it sparingly.
You’ve put your finger on why I think it is unprofessional.
I’ve only heard this phrase from African-American women, and it’s something you hear pretty widely in some communities. I would consider it a cultural thing habit similar to “bless you” after a sneeze.
Whenever I hear the world blessed I think of pagans. Blessed be! I just don’t hear the world blessed all that often from anyone else.
Could you please clarify the part I bolded? How did I overreact? (I believe I specified that I was not offended.)
If it adds context, I’m in Texas, where this is a very evangelical Christian phrasing. And to whoever mentioned earlier: not an embedded signature. She typed it out.
I wouldn’t care, but it does seem unprofessional for a business email. It’s funny that people are annoyed at its inherent Christianess because the first thing I thought of was the Pagan “blessed be”.
We just need to get some smileh kittehs pasted over the guys’ facesand we’re there.
I won’t be using it as a sig, but I’d love to see it!
BFD, get back to work!
Ages back when I was a student who tutored other students, right in the middle of a lesson, my then-tutoree leaned across the table and asked, ‘What is your relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ?’
I answered, ‘Carnal, why?’
She never asked me again.