Merry christmas?

[phantomvirus]

I know that I started the last one but there hasn't been a new debate in awhile and this has been eating at me.

I work at a grocery store as a bagger in Florida called Publix. Now Publix allows me to say Merry Christmas. I made it a habit that when the customer would leave with their groceries I would wish them a merry Christmas. This would make me feel better and usually the customer would feel happier as well. Now yesterday one customer had a problem with me saying merry Christmas. He said something about not being a Christian or about not celebrating the holiday itself. I didn't want to tick him off so afterward I said happy holidays.

Now as people here know big chains like McDonalds, Wal Mart and Target are not allowed to wish anyone a merry Christmas. This is so that no one gets offended. Now the guy who made a complaint wasn't a bad guy, he didn't get angry, and he just corrected me, and he didn’t complain to my supervisor. The point is, is it wrong for me to wish other people a Merry Christmas just because it offends some people? And should big corporations be allowed to force their members to only say happy holidays? Don't we have the freedom of speech, because no one can live life without offending someone?

So that’s it, if Filiak believes this isn't a debate then he may move this to general. My apologies if this isn't a debate. Also sorry for this being so long

[Kethoth]>USK<[]

people being rude to you for common courtesy should be shot...but me being me would make it a point to say merry christmas to that person every time i saw them even if it's the middle of june

[Bovril_Man]

Dec 5, 2008 12:06:34 GMT -5 Kethoth]>USK<[ said:

people being rude to you for common courtesy should be shot...but me being me

Yup, you being you Kethoth ol' buddy lol. Well it's okay to say "I'm not a Christian" or tell you they don't celebrate Christmas but it's kind for someone to wish it to each customer. I might have been christened but I'm not religious yet I celebrate Christmas (guess I'm an athiest (sp?)) and I wish everyone it, just depends on the person I guess. Big Corporations can't stop anyone from wishing Merry Christmas to customers, but employees don't want to loose their jobs

[JohnShandy]

Those companies aren't requesting that their employees refrain from saying those things because they have a potential to offend, they're implementing such policies to establish political correctness.

Perhaps the guy may have been Jewish, and therefore would probably feel better hearing "Happy Hanukkah."

Think about how many religions there are in the world. "Happy Holidays" is a catch-all wildcard.

As for why such political correctness is being pursued by our country, companies within our country, and every day grocery store employees, I have no answer for you. Instead, I would propose that you also ask such questions as:

Why is it considered improper to say "him or her," "he or she," or "her or him," "she or he" even when you're trying to avoid sexist political correctness blunders? "Dear Sir or Ma'am" or "Dear Sir or Madam" are both considered acceptable as professional salutations in formal letters. "Him or her" is a fair attempt at trying to account for both men and women, yet many feminists or masculists would prefer a single pronoun or some other neutral word.

Why is it that we are encouraged to say "African American" when some folks take offense to it and would actually prefer to be called "black," "brown," or just "African?"

I could list a dozen more, and I'm sure you could too after seeing the few above.

It's really not a big deal though - I mean, political correctness has its importance, and occasionally as humans we do make the mistake of getting carried away with political correctness. Nevertheless, you can make people feel good by saying "Happy Holidays" just as you can make certain people feel good by saying "Merry Christmas," "Happy Easter," etc.

So why does it matter to you which one you say? If your true intent is to help put someone in a good mood as they exit the store, why do you prefer "Merry Christmas?" I'm not going to make any judgments, as I don't know you. However, I would postulate that most who would explicitly & consciously choose "Merry Christmas" over "Happy Holidays" would either be biased, or have an ulterior motive by trying to drop hints about what they consider to be the highest ideal: the "one and only" religion they feel is right and worth following.

I personally am an atheist, but that doesn't necessarily mean I have to skip out on the Christmas holiday. Even if I separate the underlying religious implications of Christmas, it can still be a special season each year in which people can make a selfless effort to express their love & concern for their loved ones, and give them cards or gifts or partake in parties or activities with them to exhibit a "giving" attitude and reassure family & friends that they're important to someone. That said however, I'll probably only ever celebrate X-Mas when I go to visit family, and any season I don't visit them, I probably will not. I celebrate it with them now only for their sake, but I ignore anything other than "family time" and "friends time."

I don't take offense to when someone says "Merry Christmas," though I guess if I were able to choose I might elect "Happy Holidays" so that I wouldn't feel like anything was being "rubbed in."

[Silent_Treatment]

Well put John. This is not confined to the "Holidays", it is everywhere. Some people just live to complain. There is no single phrase that you could say that would fly with 100% of the people. Even if you say nothing at all, some people will just consider you rude. I wish my life was so good that I had time to worry about how the employee at the grocery store greeted me.

I am Christian, and I can honestly say that it would not bother me one bit if somebody said "Happy Hanukkah" to me. I would almost assuredly say "You too" back without even trying to debate. I mean the guy is just being nice and it doesn't make any difference to either of us whether I am Jewish or not.

So Merry Christmas phantom. Don't let one person stop you from spreading good will to others.

ST

[Tsumetai]

I have no problem with people telling me "Merry Christmas". Maybe it's because I celebrate Christmas, in fact, many atheists, particularly those from Christian backgrounds, celebrate Christmas in a secular way (meaning we get rid of Jesus and keep everything else, which Christians stole from the pagans anyway). Christmas is great, there's nothing wrong with devoting a day towards peace on Earth and goodwill towards men (and maybe even women too), I think everyone should celebrate it. For the record, the "war on Christmas" wasn't started by atheists, it was started by Bill O'Reilly. The term "Happy Holidays" came about partly out of political correctness, partly out of convenience (as it's silly to have to ask everyone what, if any, holiday the celebrate around this time), and partly out of the desire to increase profit. The big chains want everyone who celebrates a holiday around this time to buy crap from them, not just Christians, so by the term "happy holidays", they're trying to lure more customers around the holiday season.

I don't get offended when someone wishes me a merry Christmas, nor do I get offended when someone wishes me a happy Hanukkah, I just wish them a happy Hanukkah right back.