The man sitting next to me at the library sneezed and said, "Excuse me" but I was in a reading trance, so it didn't register for a moment. When it did, I said, "Salud and bless you. Sorry it took so long. I was in a trance."

Cold to flu to pneumonia to dead--it hasn't been that long when that was common around here. It is good to have an acceptable, not specifically religious, not specifically not religious, way to bless stranger.