Setting: A cozy café in Berlin. It’s a chilly afternoon, and the friends are sipping coffee near the window.
Lena: (sneezes loudly)
Tom: Gesundheit!
Lena: Thank you. You always say it so quickly—it’s like a reflex!
Tom: Well, I am German. It’s practically embedded in our DNA. But also… why do you thank me like I just saved your life?
Lena: (wide-eyed) Because you did! You protected me from evil spirits trying to sneak into my soul while I was vulnerable. You know the tradition, right?
Tom: (chuckles) You seriously believe that saying “Gesundheit” wards off demons?
Lena: Not demons, exactly… more like negative energies. My Oma always said that when you sneeze, your body is briefly open—like a little spiritual window. And if no one blesses you, poof! Something bad could sneak in.
Tom: Lena, come on. That sounds like the plot of a horror movie directed by someone with sinus issues.
Lena: It’s ancient wisdom, Tom! People used to die from sneezes—like, during the Plague. That’s why people said “Bless you” or “Gesundheit” to show concern and give protection.
Tom: Yes, during the Plague, when they thought sneezing meant death was knocking. We’ve come a long way since then. I mean, we have vaccines and antihistamines now.
Lena: But old traditions exist for a reason! Just last week, I didn’t say “Gesundheit” to my coworker when he sneezed—and that same day, his laptop crashed, his lunch got stolen from the fridge, and his Tinder date ghosted him. Coincidence?
Tom: Absolutely coincidence. Unless the evil spirits also hacked into his Wi-Fi.
Lena: I’m just saying, why risk it? It costs nothing to say it and possibly saves someone’s soul.
Tom: By that logic, should we also throw salt over our shoulders every time we spill it? Or avoid stepping on cracks so we don’t break our mothers’ backs?
Lena: Hey, I do those too! Especially the salt one—my kitchen floor is basically a slippery exorcism zone.
Tom: Lena, you live in Berlin and work in biotech. You can gene-edit a banana to glow in the dark, but you think a sneeze opens a portal to the underworld?
Lena: That’s exactly why I believe! I know how fragile biology is. Sneezes shoot out air at 160 km/h. If your body is doing that, something metaphysical might be happening too.
Tom: Or… it’s just your body ejecting mucus at high speed to get rid of allergens. Not ghosts.
Lena: Still, science can’t explain everything. Don’t you ever feel like some things are just… off, when someone doesn’t say “Bless you”? Like a weird tension in the air?
Tom: Sure. Social awkwardness. That’s not the supernatural—it’s just German politeness sensors going off.
Lena: Then humor me. Say “Gesundheit.” If it does nothing—fine. But if I end up spirit-free and happy? Win-win.
Tom: Fine. For you, I’ll keep doing it. But not because I believe in evil spirits—I believe in you not side-eyeing me for the rest of the day.
Lena: That’s all I ask. And maybe… one day, when you sneeze and your phone doesn’t explode right after, you’ll thank me.
Tom: Or maybe I’ll thank my flu shot. But sure—Gesundheit it is.
[They clink coffee mugs, amused and accepting of each other’s quirks.]
Science Vs Superstition 
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