Naturally, the Best Christmas Gift Will be Finishing A Crown of Swords and Moving into Shara
The holiday season hasn't felt like the holiday season at all to me this year. That changed just a little bit, though, when I came home and copy 11/35 of 
was waiting for me.
Here's a story:
I was at work earlier when a small woman came up to me and asked me if I could unlock a video game cabinet for her. Since that's one of the things I get paid to do, I obliged (please also note that another motivation to do so was that if I don't, I get fired). I asked if she would like me to ring her item up for her, to which she said yes. I told her that I could take care of the transaction at the electronics counter. She was more than happy to meet me there, but on one condition: She insisted that I wish her a marry christmas.
Now, this is where I have to supply some necessary background information. There is apparently a rumor going around that says that Target - in an attempt to be as politically correct as possible and appease any and all groups of people - does not allow their employees to say "Merry Christmas". This rumor has caused somewhat of an uproar among folks who believe that there is no harm in being specific in your holiday greetings. This rumor has almost no validity. I say "almost" because it has about as much validity as the statement "I have have one eyebrow". I do not actually have one eyebrow, but they are pretty thick and sometimes but not always it looks like I have just one. As you can see, it's a grey area.
So, although this rumor is not true, I have had ill experiences in wishing people a merry christmas. Thus, not wanting to offend anyone, I now stay clear of revealing the fact that I am partial to certain holidays.
But let us return to the current situation. This was a different case. The woman plainly asked me - no, almost demanded - that I wish her a merry christmas. The challenging flash in her eyes told me that she'd heard the rumors and was just daring me to refuse. This was a woman who wanted her well-wishes. I figured there was no possible way she could be offended, so I bashfully wished her a Merry Christmas, but not without hesitiation. It was this hesitation that would later set into motion an unsettling series of events.
The woman followed me to the electronics counter where, as stated, we had agreed the transaction would take place. I began to go through the motions, when she stopped me. The flash in her eyes was back and more fierce than ever as she said to me
"Now, since you had to think about saying 'Merry Christmas', say Happy Birthday to Jesus."
There was no question as to whether she was serious. There was also no question as to whether she thought I would burn in hell like the pagan I'd obviously made myself out to be if I refused. I promptly told her I'd rather not. She just as promptly told me "Well, now I am offended."
I told her that I was offended, too. She responded with "
Whoops. I'm not sure why I even started that quote because the truth is, I didn't hear what she said after that. I simply turned to my co-worker Erin and kindly asked "Will you ring her up, please?". Thank you, Erin, for doing so without question.
I didn't hear anything about the incident until hours later, when a "Leader on Duty" (commoners tend to refer to these as something called "Managers") said to me
"Thanks for your little friend. She came to me about it. I told her 'He can say whatever he wants' and she left."
I also found out that she apparently called me a 'bonehead' (I should add that this was a monumental moment in history, marking the first time in 40 years that anyone has legitimately used the term as an insult), and that while she was complaining to the "Manager", she claimed she was fighting back tears.
Merry ChristmasHappy Holidays
was waiting for me.
Here's a story:
I was at work earlier when a small woman came up to me and asked me if I could unlock a video game cabinet for her. Since that's one of the things I get paid to do, I obliged (please also note that another motivation to do so was that if I don't, I get fired). I asked if she would like me to ring her item up for her, to which she said yes. I told her that I could take care of the transaction at the electronics counter. She was more than happy to meet me there, but on one condition: She insisted that I wish her a marry christmas.
Now, this is where I have to supply some necessary background information. There is apparently a rumor going around that says that Target - in an attempt to be as politically correct as possible and appease any and all groups of people - does not allow their employees to say "Merry Christmas". This rumor has caused somewhat of an uproar among folks who believe that there is no harm in being specific in your holiday greetings. This rumor has almost no validity. I say "almost" because it has about as much validity as the statement "I have have one eyebrow". I do not actually have one eyebrow, but they are pretty thick and sometimes but not always it looks like I have just one. As you can see, it's a grey area.
So, although this rumor is not true, I have had ill experiences in wishing people a merry christmas. Thus, not wanting to offend anyone, I now stay clear of revealing the fact that I am partial to certain holidays.
But let us return to the current situation. This was a different case. The woman plainly asked me - no, almost demanded - that I wish her a merry christmas. The challenging flash in her eyes told me that she'd heard the rumors and was just daring me to refuse. This was a woman who wanted her well-wishes. I figured there was no possible way she could be offended, so I bashfully wished her a Merry Christmas, but not without hesitiation. It was this hesitation that would later set into motion an unsettling series of events.
The woman followed me to the electronics counter where, as stated, we had agreed the transaction would take place. I began to go through the motions, when she stopped me. The flash in her eyes was back and more fierce than ever as she said to me
"Now, since you had to think about saying 'Merry Christmas', say Happy Birthday to Jesus."
There was no question as to whether she was serious. There was also no question as to whether she thought I would burn in hell like the pagan I'd obviously made myself out to be if I refused. I promptly told her I'd rather not. She just as promptly told me "Well, now I am offended."
I told her that I was offended, too. She responded with "
Whoops. I'm not sure why I even started that quote because the truth is, I didn't hear what she said after that. I simply turned to my co-worker Erin and kindly asked "Will you ring her up, please?". Thank you, Erin, for doing so without question.
I didn't hear anything about the incident until hours later, when a "Leader on Duty" (commoners tend to refer to these as something called "Managers") said to me
"Thanks for your little friend. She came to me about it. I told her 'He can say whatever he wants' and she left."
I also found out that she apparently called me a 'bonehead' (I should add that this was a monumental moment in history, marking the first time in 40 years that anyone has legitimately used the term as an insult), and that while she was complaining to the "Manager", she claimed she was fighting back tears.
Merry ChristmasHappy Holidays