Yep Merry Christmas. I was raised a Catholic boy here in WNY and we said Merry Christmas. I cannot remember any Jewish families in this town but I didn't get out much besides school and the friends I had on the street. I do recognize that there are other holidays celebrated at this time of year and I would use some other greeting besides the generic Happy Holidays but that would be lazy. I am gonna be lazy because I don't really know the proper spelling for Hannukah so if I screwed it up then sorry but, Happy Hannukah. Kwanza? yeah well I'm not too well versed in that so I'm gonna skip it. And what would a Druid say for Winter Soltice? Or a Wicken say for whatever they celebrate?
I find that the whole controversey over what people say as a nice greeting for this time of year and the reaction that people have if you don't get the right one. Hey if someone says Happy or Merry or Good or what ever take a second and say thanks or substitute with your own Happy or Merry or Good whatever. They may be just being nice. I respond in kind normally especially if the greeting is delivered with some enthusiasm. If it's some store reply following the taking of your cash well I just say thanks.
Here in WNY a small town had a huge melee over the placement of a manger or creche in the village square on public property. There were letters to editors, emails to TV stations, public protests and the like. So the mayor made the call to invite any other relegious sect, cult, denomination to place there holiday symbology in the same park. Well the Wicken were the only to reply with a Pentagol. And with that the fur flew. People drove there pickups over the Wicken symbol, spray painted the manger, made a big mess. OK so the manger (on wheels) probably should not have been on public property but it's really the way people chose to react that makes me laugh about how self-righteous and sensitive we have become.
AH well, the Manger moved to the grounds of a Catholic Church, the truck driver was ID'd because of the choice of paint and wheels on the truck and all else settled down as it was before. Well I guess the mayor will not be running again Oh and they stopped saying Merry Christmas at City Hall.
Go figure.
5 comments:
Merry Christmas, Shawn, from your resident Buddhist.
Enjoy the day with your family.
Merry happy cheerful youbetcha politically correct sensitive to your fucking religion christmanukahadan.
Remember that xmas in spain with Leslie and Donna?
No I was drunk. There is a certain New Year's Eve with Donna that I remember but That included a flash of nudity or am I just wishfully remembering? Nope there was nudity and it was good!
Yesterday I got to repeat one of my favorite Christmas traditions. In NYC if you want a newspaper, cigarettes, Coke, a can of soup, or any of those basic things the rest of America buys at the 7-11, we go to the "Deli". A "Delicatessen" is where you go for a sandwich, but a "Deli" is for all the other cheap crap. Its a Deli unless its a newsstand or a bodega because New Yorkers decided that long before I moved here and who am I to tell them they're all wrong.
So anyway, there are 12 delis within 6 blocks of my house. Yesterday, I stopped into the one my GF and I call the "cheap cigarettes deli" (as opposed to the "rude counter guy deli" or the "bad milk deli" or the "smelly deli") to buy enough cigarettes to get through the holiday. (interuption to say, shut up Jim, Janiece and all the rest of you. I still smoke. And I still like it. Deal.)
So I walk up to the little counter and the guy who is always there no matter what time of day I walk in (and, no I have no idea what his name is), say "Hey, Boss. Merry Christmas." He's Muslim and I know for a fact he knows I'm Jewish. I say "Merry Christmas" right back at him. Then, he reaches under the counter and pulls out one of those little airline nips of Scotch, pours it into a paper cup and hands it to me.
At this point, as I slug down the Scotch, he says, "L'chaim" (hebrew for "to life"), and I replay "Salaam Alaikem" (roughly "Peace be with you" in Arabic). Then, he reaches under the counter again and hands me an insulated coffee travel mug (that I know was supposed to be given away as a promotion with some other product during the year) and once again wishes me a "Merry Christmas". I reply in kind and leave with a smile on my face.
It doesn't matter how much I hate NY on any particular day. I Love NY.
Personally, I think anyone who argues about holiday displays should be forced to sit in the display for 48 hours with a lovely fir tree shoved up their ass. There's a whole lot more important things to get pissed off about.
Nathan, you'll not get any grief out of me about smoking. And I doubt Beastly will give you any grief.
And that's a great story.
And today is the longest confirmation verification word I've gotten yet: kgjqbpuekx
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