You could pretend to have misheard the statement and say “Oh, I think you can get ointment for that”
The reason it grates on me is that I can’t stop asking myself, “So if you have a good job and your health because God has blessed you… doesn’t that also mean that God has cursed the sick unemployed guy?”
Theologically, “I’m blessed” bugs the hell out of me.
I pretty much have only heard this from blacks. The first time was from a client that let’s just say, wasn’t the most blessed person I’ve ever known, then again, she threatened to call the cops and have me arrested because I wouldn’t return her escrow check (I was the realtor, not the title company that you know, HAD her check)
As a happy as a clam, practicing atheist, complete with darwin fish on my car, I do see it as a way to proclaim one’s beliefs. Another way to sneak religion into life.
FWIW, I suppose I am damned, so I guess that would be a proper response, A huge smile accompanying it would probably help. Happily damned?
Not to go all anti-religious here, but really, I get sick of having whatever religion crammed down my throat. There was a great West Wing episode regarding this and they did a fabulous job of showing how it isn’t just the atheists they are alienating, it’s everyone who has a different religion. It’s exclusionary, it’s alienating, it’s smug and frankly, we need a lot less of those things.
Take care. 
AB
First of all, the locution “how are you?” has managed to become often both intrusive (why does a stranger want to know my inner thoughts and feelings?) and standoffish (why would someone ask this and pay no attention to the answer?). The fault is not yours, but people of all backgrounds and predilections, not just the religious, have had a while to think up an answer to this ubiquitous and unavoidable question that suits them. The common response tries to involve both brevity and individuality. I sometimes say, “a little closer to the finish line.” “I’m blessed” has me beat by a mile. There are a thousand things that can be meant by the phrase, but fewer, I think, than by the standard “I’m fine” and a little more information included in the package. As to the answer, say “I’m glad” or “We all are – but how do you feel today?” or “May your blessings increase, my son” – as you please, but you’ll have to accept that that’s the way they’ll often choose to answer you.
If you’d like more control over their response, be more careful how you initiate the exchange. Say “Have a happy day,” or “I hope your acne clears up,” or “The man in the hat says you have twenty-four hours to produce the secret plans or Plan B goes into effect.” Any of these admits of plenty of responses that range from “thank you” to a knife in your gut, but don’t, by and large, include the phrase you don’t like.
I run across this at my office where someone signs her emails “Have a blessed day”. Well, that’s what she means to say. She actually types “Have a bless day”. I don’t know which irks me more - a sentiment like that on an office email, or the bad spelling.
VCNJ~
Please forgive the laughter! You caught the spirit of what I was after.
I have seen this same clerk in other parts of the store. His “blessedness” isn’t as manifest as it is when he’s grinning from ear to ear at the register. Elsewhere he won’t even look up. The other day I was waiting for him to finish his transaction(s) at the in-store ATM (a new feature of Kroger that’s really convenient) and he was ascribing to this inanimate device all sorts of demonic traits, questioning its lineage, and otherwise wishing it anything but a blessed day. I was relieved that he actually has a human side!
[slight hijack] Many moons ago, I helped Bishop McCarthy of Austin plan a trip to Ireland.
At the end of our conversation, he said 'Bless you my child."
I wasn’t sure of the proper response and I’m not a Catholic, so I blurted out “Well, bless you too.”
He laughed and said 'Thank you so much-no one’s blessed me today."
Bishop McCarthy was a really good guy.
[/slight hijack over]
Anyone irritated or offended by “I’m blessed” or any innocuous expression of faith is suffering from a serious deficit of real irritations and offenses.
Bless you.
On the other hand, people who make blanket statements about what irritates others are mindless of other people’s sensitivities and are useless in passing along either advice or blessings.
May your day be filled.
How pompous thou art.
I am neither suffering from a serious deficit of real irritations nor offenses. For the record, my husband is 104 days clean from a drug addiction that almost cost us our house, my 5 month old child is catching up quickly, but still not quite where she should be due to her prematurity, ad naseum.
I feel that keeping religion to oneself out of respect for others beliefs, upbringings and experiences is a truer testament of kindness and “blessing” than pithy, throw it in a sig file, toss it on my voice mail religious pandering.
Want me to have a blessed day? Then smile when I enter your store. Don’t lie and say the bathroom is out of order, don’t make me jump through hoops to get you to do your job, allow me to merge into traffic, pick up after yourself, don’t pee on the seat and don’t spit and for the love of whatever, wash your hands after you use the bathroom.
To quote an english teacher of mine, don’t tell me, show me.
But thanks for reminding me why I’m as cozy as a clam staying the heck away from fundies.
I think you should reply with a wink and evil smile and say, “I’m blessed too!”.
Or how about, “Really! Show me.”
(Trouble is: this guy probably would, and I don’t need that either.)
“Um, congrats?”
(Though I do like “well, I’ll be damned!”
Or they might be from another culture that considers religion a private, personal matter.
Have you ever run into Atlanta Church of Christers? These people are notorious for befriending strangers and inviting them to church. They seem nice and normal enough until you actually go to one of their services. Then you find out that these people are actually scary cult members. Stay away from them (that is, if you’re not into the scary cult thing).
As for this being a black thing, I believe ya’ll are right. All the “Have a Blessed Day” people I know are black. I’m going to generalize right quick and say that your average church-going black person tends to be more overt in their “spirituality” than your average church-going white person. They may or may not be shining beacons of Christianity all the time, but they certainly will make sure you know they are Christians.
I love classic R&B. So about seventy percent of the time, my car radio will be tuned to the local R&B station. In addition to being very “pro-black” in their discussions/advertisements/commentary, the station employs a lot of “Have a Blessed Day” DJs. There’s a DJ in the morning who signs off with a statement of encouragement that is reminiscent of something you’d read in one of those Watchtower Magazines. On this station you will also hear announcements about Christian-oriented venues or events. On Sundays, the stations plays gospel (which I actually like, despite suffering from spiritual ambivalence right now). If I had a big problem with overt displays of religiousity and I still wanted to listen to R&B, I’d have to turn to an Ipod. All the local R&B stations that I’ve listened to (from Atlanta to northern NJ to south Florida) have had this particular “bent”. It can be frustrating sometimes because I despise the lack of diversity and concern for the wider audience that might be listening (lots of non-Christians and non-blacks love Motown, Earth Wind and Fire, Whitney Houston, and Anita Baker). But because the “language” is culturally familiar, I don’t mind it so much.
My aunt has a “Have a Blessed Day” on her voice mail. And while she’s no saint, I think she honestly and geniunely believes in returning her own blessings by wishing them on others. She’s also capable of describing herself in more secular, more everyday ways, which she does regularly. For my aunt, I think she uses the word “blessed” to ground her and to remind her that she’s in a spiritual journey, one that she has just begun to partake in (she’s not that much older than myself). I think this describes a LOT of people. People who are Christians but are maybe feeling unsure of themselves and have to do certain things to remind them of their “purpose”.
But my mother, who is an associate minister in a predominately black, Pentecostal church, does not (as far as I know) wish people a “blessed day” UNLESS they are fellow congregants. She travels in broad circles and regularly code switches. People who don’t know her may think she’s a good, kind person when they first meet her, but they aren’t automatically going to think, “She’s so religious!” She just doesn’t exude religiousity.
So it’s not necessarily a “religious black woman” thing.
I can’t really say for sure. All I know is I grew up around a lot of Black people, and I grew up around a lot of religious people. But it wasn’t until I moved to Oakland that I ever head this phrase (and I hear it several times a day). Sure there are a lot of religious people, but this county is one of the most liberal in California and I doubt nearly every bus driver and one third of everyone I call at work is religious.
“Well, your nametag says you’re Melvin.”