Here's the truth. "Happy Holidays" is not code for, "Screw you and your Merry Christmas too". Happy Holidays actually translates to, "Whatever holiday/s you may choose to celebrate, I hope they bring enjoyment to you." Awesome. Even most Jehovah's Witnesses can appreciate that...I know this because I've asked dozens. "Happy Holidays" is a seasonal greeting that could not possibly be less offensive to most people.
Well...it USED to be, anyway.
Now (for about the past decade), the winter season brings out the, "It's MERRY CHRISTMAS, NOT HAPPY HOLIDAYS" supporters in the same way Black Friday brings out the voracious shoppers.
"It's Merry Christmas, not Happy Holidays." Really? It's NOT Happy Holidays? Reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally? It's not the season of Yule, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Festivus, Bodhi Day, non-denomination-gift-giving Day, etc.? It's only about Christmas?
I don't celebrate Christmas unless small children are involved in my life (which isn't often). When our nieces and nephews were kids, we wrapped up presents and trotted our rears to their home on Christmas morning and enjoyed spiced cider, pumpkin bread, Christmas ham, and kids tearing into holiday-themed gift paper. It was fun. I enjoyed it. I have many fond memories of those days, including the time we bought our thirteen year old niece her favorite CD and wrapped it in a kitchen stove box so she wouldn't guess what it was before opening it.
I have nothing against Christmas. Or, as my husband said on our first Christmas together when we lived in Las Vegas and went skiing on December 25th, "It's just another day, with short lift lines." And speaking of Vegas, if you've ever been in a Vegas casino on Christmas, one thing is obvious...lots of people aren't celebrating. And you know what? That's perfectly okay. My husband and I now live in a place where the nearest ski lifts are closed on Christmas, so we go to the movies and/or hang out with friends (most who also don't celebrate Christmas) and drink wine, talk, go cross-country skiing, window shopping in our historic, quaint downtown. It's just another day, with no traffic. I've worked on Christmas, been a volunteer Santa Elf in a children's hospital. It's a good day. I enjoy it.
The holiday season means different things to different people. I submit that your meaning is different from mine, and that's wonderful. Let's get together and share the similarities, the differences, make connections, chuckle over horror/funny stories from holiday seasons past. ENJOY. Have a Happy Holidays. And please understand that if you take my favorite seasonal greeting, "Happy Holidays" as some kind of bitch slap to your Christmas, then that decision is ALL YOURS. The fact is, I'm not smacking down your day and I'd appreciate it if you don't smack down mine (Winter Solstice). Let's be friends. Thanks.
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