# "I'm Blessed" -- irritating? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 19, 2006, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-blessed-irritating/345218 "2006-02-19T17:14:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-blessed-irritating/345218/21 "2006-02-19T18:36:04Z")
> [@Qadgop the Mercotan](#): > > …For many people I know it’s not a christian thing, it’s just a shorthand way of them reminding themselves (and others) that overall their lives are really pretty good and that they should stop sniveling and appreciate it. I’m not quibbling with _feeling_ blessed – it’s a wonderful place to be, spiritually and emotionally – just with the need to announce it to someone who’s giving you a polite version of “how are you,” not making an actual inquiry into your existential status. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-blessed-irritating/345218/22 "2006-02-19T18:36:47Z")
> [@even sven](#): > > I never heard “have a blessed day” until I move here, where I hear it regularly. It’s particularly common on answering machine messages. > > As far as I can tell, it’s pretty much an African-American thing and more cultural than religious. Doesn’t bug me at all. At least someone is wishing good things for me. Can you go into more depth about the “cultural thing” because that does seem to me to be what’s going on. I’m just ignorant of the deeper connotations. Up to now I haven’t had any similar greetings from non-Black clerks. (There have been some equally saccharine greetings from them, just not the “blessed” variety.) ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-blessed-irritating/345218/23 "2006-02-19T19:04:56Z")
> [@](#): > > Now, my serious contribution to this thread. I was under the impression that it’s (a) impossible to know if you’ve been blessed, and/or (b) prideful to the point of sin to to presume that you’ve been blessed. You can’t know, so you must live in a manner which you hope will cause G-d to favor you. I dunno. I don’t think there is any prohibition on feeling or even exclaiming that one has been blessed. (I suspect that someone who proclaimed “I am blesséd” might run afoul of the rules against presumption.) OTOH, maybe the kid went ten years without ever being able to get a date, then met and married the woman of his dreams, as his wife went into labor they got a report showing that both parents were recessive carriers for a particularly nasty genetic defect, but the child was born without either the defect or the gene, and a distant relative bequethed him a house in which to live so that he can actually survive on a cashier’s salary and he happenes to think that he has been blessed. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-blessed-irritating/345218/24 "2006-02-19T19:11:10Z")
As a natural part of “how are you” conversational greetings I’ve only heard it (so far) from church going black lades, and it’s not so much a “smug” tone as it just replaces “I’m fine” in their lexicon. ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-blessed-irritating/345218/25 "2006-02-19T19:37:47Z")
> [@cwthree](#): > > Now, my serious contribution to this thread. I was under the impression that it’s (a) impossible to know if you’ve been blessed, and/or (b) prideful to the point of sin to to presume that you’ve been blessed. You can’t know, so you must live in a manner which you hope will cause G-d to favor you. That probably depends on what blessings you’re talking about. I am not a christian theologist, or even a practicing christian anymore, but I think a lot of denominations would agree that - All of humanity has been blessed in certain basic ways. (Given life, a planet to make our home in, nature and sources of food, etcetera.) - To whatever extent you see good fortune in your own life, you should be thankful to God for those blessings. (Good health, a happy relationship with family or other loved ones, agreeable job, fun hobbies.) I wouldn’t myself, take it to necessarily imply that the speaker is using blessed in such a way as to be synonymous with ‘in a state of grace’, ‘saved’, etcetera. (Though some evangelical denominations don’t think that it’s prideful or presumptuous to believe that you’ve been born again and saved… though most of them would say that even though you’ve been born again/saved it would be prideful to presume that you’re living your life in a way that would be pleasing to the Lord.) I’ll stop here before I go further off topic. ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-blessed-irritating/345218/26 "2006-02-19T19:52:06Z")
It is a phrase I hear pretty exclusively from black women of the church going variety. To me it’s just a phrase. Ok, standing up at a checkout stand in a grocery store scanning grouchy people’s groceries is not my idea of blessed, but if she’s good with it, who am I to say otherwise. I respond with “Great” just as I normally would to someone saying “I’m Fine.” ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-blessed-irritating/345218/27 "2006-02-19T19:53:22Z")
I would probably reply to that with “Sweet!” or “Awesome!” I can’t quite figure out why this is an issue. It’s just the person’s standard answer to “How are you?”…sounds just like “fine” “ok” “great” “aight” and is much better than “i hate my life” “not good” or “_silence_” ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-blessed-irritating/345218/28 "2006-02-19T19:56:24Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > I’m not quibbling with _feeling_ blessed – it’s a wonderful place to be, spiritually and emotionally – just with the need to announce it to someone who’s giving you a polite version of “how are you,” not making an actual inquiry into your existential status. But wouldn’t that apply to pretty much _any_ answer you could give to “How are you?” ---
**Author:** ![Anastasaeon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Anastasaeon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anastasaeon)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-blessed-irritating/345218/29 "2006-02-19T20:04:38Z")
Not irritating in the least. It’s no more smug or smarmy to answer how you truthfully feel than to ask how I am in the first place. Why is it your business? Perv! And certainly no more smug than to believe that when you ask someone a question, they should answer only in a way that pleases you, and not how they really feel. 😛 I mean, damn. Sometimes the world seems like it’s just _looking_ for a reason to be irritated. Not everyone is like you, so if you ask a question - any question - you are bound to get a myriad of answers in return, depending on background, belief, mood, etc. And quite frankly, I think that is _awesome_. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-blessed-irritating/345218/30 "2006-02-19T20:12:51Z")
You know, if someone asks you how you are, you can say fine, and then just stop talking. As for the “I’m blessed.” thing, that would throw me right off. I’ve never heard someone say that; it would strike me as very weird. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-blessed-irritating/345218/31 "2006-02-19T20:13:56Z")
Dammit, I forgot my smiley after my first sentence to indicate that I was not trying to be a dick. There - 😃 ---
**Author:** ![adhemar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@adhemar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adhemar)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-blessed-irritating/345218/32 "2006-02-19T20:16:15Z")
I have always liked Dave Ramsey’s answer of “Better than I deserve.” ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-blessed-irritating/345218/33 "2006-02-19T20:19:51Z")
My 6-year-old niece always answers with “Fantastic!” with a bright sunny smile and eyes wide. Makes my day, let me tell you. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-blessed-irritating/345218/34 "2006-02-19T20:59:02Z")
I only get annoyed if it’s that person’s “catch-phrase”. Every once in a while, it’s fine. But if it’s not only “I’m blessed” but also “Have a blessed day!” and “God bless you!” and other phrases that include “blessings”–all within an hour’s time, including emails and greetings to aquaintances–then I admit to getting a little :rolleyes: . It’s not that I don’t get that people don’t feel grateful for the good in their lives. But it feels a little self-righteous sometimes, like a person says it to boost up their image as a spiritual person. I didn’t really agree with the pastor of the church I grew up in, except for one time when he said that people should stop with all the “I’m blessed!” stuff. His point was that you don’t have to constantly drip with religiousity and piousness to be a good Christian. And sometimes it’s alright to say, “I’m not doing all that great.” People can’t know your pain if you hide it behind a “I’m blessed!” facade. ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-blessed-irritating/345218/35 "2006-02-19T21:44:42Z")
It doesn’t bother me, but I do find it kind of weird. On a similar note, my neighbor has a bumper sticker that says “Blessed” on his truck, and I’ve had many black folks wish me a “blessed day.” ---
**Author:** ![BoBettie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@BoBettie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BoBettie)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-blessed-irritating/345218/36 "2006-02-19T23:02:43Z")
When living in NC, I came across this response a lot, along with “Have a blessed day!” Whenever someone did the “How are you?” “I’m blessed!”, I’d say “I’m glad!!” and move on. If someone wished me a blessed day, I"d say “And the same to you!” It’s not them rubbing your face in their beliefs or whatever, it’s the best response they have to your question. If it bugs you, why not ask “How’s it hanging?” (although “I’m blessed!” would be a great answer there, so maybe not) ---
**Author:** ![everyone\_loves\_monkeys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9e5f3/32.png) [@everyone\_loves\_monkeys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everyone_loves_monkeys)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-blessed-irritating/345218/37 "2006-02-19T23:23:14Z")
Cant say that anyone’s ever said this to me, but if i were you in this situation, I would be tempted to reverse the etiquette tables. You really need to jump in there first with the ‘how are you?’ You: How are you? Blessed person: I’m blessed, how are you? You: I’m fine thanks. And how are you Blessed person: …I’m blessed…Er, how are you? You: I’m fine thanks. And how are you? Blessed person: …I’m, um, blessed…Er, so, how are you? Repeat ad infinitum Confusing the person like this will a)mean that you wont have to speak to them in the future, and b) they’ll do things much quicker to ensure you move away from there till as soon as possible. Good luck May your next shopping trip be blessed ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-blessed-irritating/345218/38 "2006-02-19T23:42:12Z")
I only hear this from blacks; I don’t really think about it one way or another, but I am not going to pick up the phrase and use it. I like **tomndebb’s** version of things–I bet that’s it! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_On\_My\_Sleeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/77aa72/32.png) [@Heart\_On\_My\_Sleeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_On_My_Sleeve)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2006, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-blessed-irritating/345218/39 "2006-02-20T03:07:43Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > I would probably reply to that with “Sweet!” or “Awesome!” > > I can’t quite figure out why this is an issue. It’s just the person’s standard answer to “How are you?”…sounds just like “fine” “ok” “great” “aight”… Same here, it wouldn’t sound weird to me or even necessarily religious. To me, it just sounds like another way to say “really, quite good, lucky, happy, fortunate”, whatever. Even if someone means it in a religious way, who cares? I asked, I got an answer. ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2006, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-blessed-irritating/345218/40 "2006-02-20T13:52:41Z")
I live in “blessed land”. I get annoyed when I hear that holier than thou “have a blessed day” on some people’s answering machines. Some of these people are cheating on spouses, cheating on taxes or something or the other - to hear the gospel song of the moment and the blessed day sentiment really gets my goat. I’ve been in Atlanta for 6 months now, and I’ve never heard so much lip service to blessings and such from people who aren’t really holy in such a short period of time before moving here… Even the hip hop radio station hosts talk about going to church every Sunday - I feel like a real outsider because I don’t believe that Jesus is the Savior. People on the subway, people at the supermarket, people on the street feel comfortable in asking me what church I go to. I’ve been invited to more church services in the last 6 months than I have in my life. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-blessed-irritating/345218.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-blessed-irritating/345218.md?page=3)