# My boss is Hindu - should I send him a card?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-boss-is-hindu-should-i-send-him-a-card/477920>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [December 19, 2008, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-boss-is-hindu-should-i-send-him-a-card/477920 "2008-12-19T16:33:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![PastAllReason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f07891/32.png) [@PastAllReason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastAllReason)\
**Post date:** [December 21, 2008, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-boss-is-hindu-should-i-send-him-a-card/477920/41 "2008-12-21T23:49:49Z")

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> [@Jesse\_Leigh](#):
>
> …snip…  
> OTOH, there are extremists in every faith. One JW I know now shuns me because I once said ‘God bless’ to her at the end of a phone conversation. Sigh… personally, I’d have thought that was generic. Oh well… - Jesse.

> [@Illuminatiprimus](#):
>
> I’m not a JW and I wouldn’t be that keen on being blessed at the end of a phone conversation either. But that’s not a problem as I don’t know anyone who does it.
> 
> **Jesse** - what on earth makes you think it’s generic? Why would anyone but a Christian say “god bless you?”. 😕

> [@Dervorin](#):
>
> Because it’s a social convention, a dab of grease on the wheels of social interaction. I say “bless you” when people sneeze - not because I’m literally blessing them, but because it’s the accepted thing to do. I don’t see it as a problem unless people make it into one.

I’m not a Jehovah’s Witness, and I’d be a bit taken aback at someone ending a phone conversation with “God bless you” too. I certainly wouldn’t shun the person, but I’d wonder. I think it’s a bit different than saying “bless you” when someone sneezes. First of all because the way most I know end a telephone conversation is with some variant of “goodbye” or “talk to you later” so the speaker has gone outside the more common social conventions to one specifically mentioning a god, whereas with someone sneezing the only common responses seem to be “gesundheit” or “bless you” neither of which specifically mentions a god.

FWIW to the OP, the other day at work I gave “Season’s Greetings” cards to each team member specifically thanking that person for their contributions during the year and a gift selected for that person. One person on my team at work does not celebrate Christmas and has a significant other who is Jehovah’s Witness. I didn’t want to leave his contributions ignored, but also didn’t want to force acceptance of a “Christmas” gift, so in the end I gave him a thank you card, and a gift in plain wrapping. He seemed happy with that.

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