It is now November, and as I sit on my roommate’s bed typing out this next piece for college credit, my mind drifts to the upcoming holidays. Whether it be the weather, the feeling that “it’s just that time of year,” or the fact that I just bull-shitted an article about buying “the perfect gift” for “those special people in your life” for a campus magazine, the holidays are now on my mind. So much so that I am anxiously awaiting those obnoxious, cutesy, singsong advertisements that make you want to vomit holiday spirit.
Obviously, the holidays I am speaking of are Thanksgiving and Christmas, and while it has remained “politically correct” to wish someone “Happy Thanksgiving,” it seems that wishing someone a “Merry Christmas” could be offensive. Give me a break.
I remember in high school when Christmas Break suddenly became Winter Break (hell, even the Halloween parties in elementary school became Fall Festivals) and our office faculty decorated our school with holiday wreaths and holiday trees. I wondered then, as I do now, if anyone would have actually been offended if that sparse pine tree, adorned with cheap ornaments the color of our school colors, was openly called what it actually is: a Christmas tree. Would a student or teacher who does not celebrate Christmas actually throw a fit about a foot-wide holiday wreath, exclaiming how insulted they are? Would a student or teacher protest against a five-foot tree that stands meekly in the school’s main hallway? I highly doubt it.
It was a constant joke made among my fellow classmates and myself: the fact that everything had become politically correct to the point that it was ridiculous. In my experience, having several non-Christian friends back then, no one was offended by the title of Christmas Break, and when it was changed to “Winter Break,” everyone still called it the former. I suppose the school, the government, and whoever else could be responsible for this change of name had the best intentions, but it didn’t seem necessary.
Another part of this must-be-politically-correct game came to play at my job. Back in high school, I was your average cashier at the neighborhood grocery store (Tom Thumb to be exact) and I distinctly remember feeling pressured to say “Happy Holidays” or “Seasons Greetings” to customers, rather than the standard “Merry Christmas.”
I lived in a predominantly white community, but the number of Asian, African-Americans, Middle Eastern, and Indian customers was not small. Oftentimes, if I didn’t offer them my seasonal “parting comment” (whether it was because I forgot, didn’t care, or couldn’t decide what phrase to use), they stared at me expectantly until I satisfied their holiday-wishing need.
Article comments
1 - Lisa Solod Warren
I think you don't need to worry about it, Sarah.
2 - Ruvy
Sarah,
Out where I live in Israel, Christmas is a non-event - no Chrismas carols, no Christmas sales, no Christmas trees. In fact, Christmas is barely celebrated in December - Orthodox Christians, who far outnumber Catholics and Protestants here, celebrate Chrisrman in January or so. The big deal here is Hanukkah, with its sufganyót (jelly donuts of a sort). And, to absolutely honest with you, I love it! I no longer have to live with someone else's holiday being shoved down my throat.
But, on the other hand, I do not feel the need to be politically correct, and I feel for you that you get stuck with stupid things like having to decide how to wish someone a Merry Christmas. In the States, it did not bother me if someone wished me a Merry Christmas.
But the constant droning on of Christmas songs and sales and trees and demands that I should care about someone else's holiday "season" did piss me off some. Putting powder on a pig's nose does not take away its stink, and "holiday season" is even more offensive than "Christmas season" because of its fundamental dishonesty. Blowing up Hanukkah to be more than it is - a minor holiday in the Jewish calendar - also is fundamentally dishonest.
So, Merry Christmas to you, Sarah - a bit early.
Blessings from the mountains of Liberated Samaria
Ruvy
3 - Ruvy
Oh, by the way, for you, Sarah.
This is the voice of modern Israel; not a Christmas carol, not exactly háva negíla; but we still do not lose hope. We cannot afford to.
4 - Victor Plenty
"Political correctness" cuts both ways on this issue, as with so many others. Partisans of "Merry Christmas" grow more and more militant each year.
I've personally witnessed a person respond to a perfectly friendly and innocent "Happy Holidays!" by saying "NO! Merry Christmas." in a tone that was not friendly at all. Now that's not really a very merry thing to do, wouldn't you think?
Ah, but thinking is in short supply on this issue. We could simply accept from each other whatever friendly season's greetings our neighbors feel most comfortable giving us. If someone tells me "Happy Hanukkah!" or "Merry Solstice!" or even, God forbid, "Happy Holidays!" I could take it as a kind gesture and respond with the same spirit, even though I'm not a Jew, or a neo-pagan, or a godless communist myself.
Instead we've allowed self-obsessed pundits to create a social climate where many a "Merry Christmas" now carries insulting undertones the phrase never had before. Now it often feels much like being slapped with a glove. Not really painful, but there is an unmistakable edge to the voice, a glint in the eye of the speaker. They're daring someone to take offense. They're barely able to conceal the hope that someone will take offense and give them yet another flimsy excuse to imagine themselves a persecuted minority.
Coming from the religious majority that is still by far the most powerful cultural and political force in the United States, there's nothing at all merry about that particular delusion.
So, what's the solution to this mess? There's no easy answer. Like the rest of the culture war nonsense, it's designed to be an irrationally emotional issue that will keep selling crappy books year in and year out.
Still, it couldn't hurt for everyone feeling upset about this issue to just calm down and try to be genuinely merry, with actual good will, and peace on Earth, etc., etc., etc.
5 - libby
I LOVE THIS POST.
Thank you thank you thank you thank you.
I will be linking it and giving you credit on my own blog; you said it much more eloquently than I ever could.