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2083 days ago

Chuck's help line.

Bruce from Napier South

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CHUCK LORRE PRODUCTIONS, #275

ASK CHUCK!

Dear Chuck,
At a recent dinner party, I found myself in an awkward situation when the host, a devout atheist, sneezed between spoonfuls of his gazpacho. Without thinking, I said, "God bless you." He gave me a withering look and said, as if to a child, "Golly gee, I sure hope he does." The other guests exploded with laughter, while I imploded with humiliation. To avoid future embarrassment, what is the correct response when an atheist sneezes?
Troubled with ahchoo

Dear Troubled,
First, a little background information. Saying "God bless you" following a sneeze is thought by some to have originated in the sixth century in order to protect the sneezer from falling ill to the bubonic plague. Another possible origin is that people once believed that the devil entered the body during a sneeze and saying "God bless you" could help ward him off. Since the plague has killed something like two hundred million people and the words "God bless you" have, in all likelihood, been said countless times to Glenn Beck, we can safely assume the phrase has no real power against germs or demonic possession. What it does contain is simple human courtesy -- a means by which we express concern for one another. As to how to respond to a sneezing atheist, well, that's easy. Simply say, "Sounds like you're coming down with something, I hope you don't die and rot in a box."

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1st Aired: 1 February 2010

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11 hours ago

Poll: Do you think NZ should ban social media for youth?

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

The Australian Prime Minister has expressed plans to ban social media use for children.

This would make it illegal for under 16-year-olds to have accounts on platforms including TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and X.
Social media platforms would be tasked with ensuring children have no access (under-age children and their parents wouldn’t be penalised for breaching the age limit)
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Do you think NZ should follow suit? Vote in our poll and share your thoughts below.

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Do you think NZ should ban social media for youth?
  • 84.7% Yes
    84.7% Complete
  • 13.7% No
    13.7% Complete
  • 1.6% Other - I'll share below
    1.6% Complete
503 votes
22 hours ago

Today's Riddle: Guaranteed Brain Stretch!

Riddler from The Neighbourly Riddler

What bird is the strongest of them all?

Do you think you know the answer to our daily riddle? Don't spoil it for your neighbours! Simply 'Like' this post and we'll post the answer in the comments below at 2pm.

Want to stop seeing riddles in your newsfeed?
Head here and hover on the Following button on the top right of the page (and it will show Unfollow) and then click it. If it is giving you the option to Follow, then you've successfully unfollowed the Riddles page.

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22 hours ago

$100 Briscoes winners

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

Congrats to our winners of the $100 Briscoes vouchers:

Miriam Comans from Hataitai

Tash Rawlinson from Beach Haven

Blair Mayston from Maryhill

David Tomlinson from Tauranga

If you're a winner, get in touch here before 20th November.

Not a winner this week? There's always next week!

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