There is a tingling sensation in your nose. You know its coming… Finally, “Achoo!” The sneeze comes out with relief.

After a person sneezes, the usual common courtesy in response is to say, “bless you.”

However, for some high school students of Will C. Wood High School in Vacaville, California, saying, “bless you” to a sneezing classmate will result in 25 points taken off your test.

In Steven Cuckovich’s health class, when a student said, “bless you” after a classmate sneezed, he deducted 25 points off the entire class tests, resulting in many to question this form of punishment.

Cuckovich clarified that penalizing the student for saying, “bless you” had nothing to do with religion. Rather, then it was a mere distraction and interruption during a time of learning.

In an interview with KTXL News in Sacramento, he stated, “you sneezed in the old days, they thought you were dispelling evil spirits out of your body. So they were saying ‘God bless you’ for getting rid of evil spirits. But today, what you’re doing really doesn’t make sense.”

While students, parents and the school’s principle are left puzzled with the situation, there may be another side to the story that could possibly justify the punishment. KGO-TV reported Cuckovich claims the students “were dramatically sneezing and responding in a receptive fashion, “bless you.”

While the classroom disturbance is still under investigation, the principal has made it clear that the punishment by Cuckovich does not fit the “sneeze-crime.”

In the end, we are left scratching our heads. We know times are definitely changing when saying, “bless you,” becomes an offense.

Source: Huffington Post