Merry/Happy/Whatever days ...

[antof9]

Every year -- but only in the last 7-10 or so years -- the happy holidays/Merry Christmas/keep CHRIST in Christmas/how the heck do you spell the Jewish holiday/is Kwanzaa for real conversation comes up. I think pretty much all of my regular blog readers know my opinion on this topic, so I'm really just writing this entry so I can go back to it and grab the link in the future. Then I don't have to repeat myself every year :)

I decided to write this entry after one of my new Twitter friends wrote a blog entry on this topic (Christmas is Not a Bad Word ). And now I'll paste some of what I wrote in response to her and some of my comments from other places.

I have a bunch of thoughts, in no particular order (which pretty much describes my whole life):

• I'm a Christian and I really don't care what people wish me :) And frankly, I'm annoyed by those Christians who pound their fists and stomp their feet on this subject. They don't speak for me!
• I used to work in the most Jewish of Jewish suburbs of Chicago. At our annual holiday party, my favorite thing was when the Jewish people said "Merry Christmas" to me and I said "Happy Hanukkah" to them. It always warmed my heart. I just loved it.
  
  (maybe that's really a large part of it - the whole knowing the person you're talking to thing. Everyone likes to be known. It shows that the person you're talking to cares enough about you to get to know you a little ... and that's special)
• I always say that in my book, Christmas is 1 holiday and The New Year is another, and 2 or more makes plural, so "Happy Holidays" has nothing to do with being PC and everything to do with specificity :)
• The saddest part is that in all of the arguing about the best thing to say, we seem to have lost the idea of wishing our fellow man happiness ... and joy, and peace. How can those possibly be bad things?!
• Anyway, this is something I could talk about for hours -- mostly in the "why do people make such a big deal about this" way.

Honestly? I really like "happy holidays", as I think it covers more of what's going on in the world. New Year is a holiday, and New Year's Eve is sort of too, and then any sort of Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Winter's solstice/whatever counts as 1 or more, and you could even throw in Boxing Day and 3 Kings' Day if you wanted. Heck, in the States, the day *after* Christmas is a MAJOR shopping day and tantamount to holiday for many. If that doesn't equal a plural of "holiday", I don't know what does. Why not "happy holidays"? *sigh*

Oh, and as I told some friends recently, I also really like the more UK-ish "Happy Christmas" - it charms me, and when we watched "Love Actually", I was sort of bummed when they said "Merry Christmas". So wish me whatever you like -- wish it to me in another language, if you choose! If I can see the smile on your face and the look in your eyes when you say it (and that goes for "online" interactions too), I'll know what you're saying. And I hope you'll know what I'm saying :)

Anyway, I really just want to wish anyone reading this the best of holiday seasons. It's not always the happiest time for everyone for a variety of reasons, and I hope that you are able to find joy and peace as we enter the New Year. From my house to yours, hope and happiness.