Christmachanukwanzatever

I want to address something that comes up every year at this time and drives me completely mental.  This year, it came up early on when I was on Facebook and saw that someone had changed their status to show an arrow pointing up at their profile photo and the text “This Person (arrow, pointing) Will Be Wishing People MERRY CHRISTMAS.”

("This person" by the way, keeps referring to the tree they're putting up as a CHRISTmas tree, apparently unaware that -- and this is just according to the Encyclopedia Brittanica -- "Tree worship was common among the pagan Europeans and survived their conversion to Christianity in the Scandinavian customs of decorating the house and barn with evergreens at the New Year to scare away the devil" I'm just saying.)

At any rate, for THIS PERSON and his CHRISTmas loving buddies: Way to be. Rock on, with your Christmas-loving self.  That’s cool. If you say “Merry Christmas” to me? That will make me happy.

It will also make me happy if you wish me a Happy New Year. Or a Happy Chanukkah. Or a Happy Kwanzaa.  Or a Fabulous Festivus.

Or if you just say “Happy Holidays.” But I do have the feeling that if I say Happy Holidays to you? Things are going to escalate. QUICKLY. So I am going to point out the following. Again.

Saying “Happy Holidays” instead of” Merry ChristmaChanukwanzaatever” isn’t designed to take away from any of those holidays.  It just includes everyone. (Plus, it seems to me that TECHNICALLY you would only say Merry Christmas ON Christmas itself. You don’t go around saying “Happy Birthday” to someone for weeks before their birthday, or wish someone a Happy Easter for the entire month of April. However, that's just a technicality, I guess.) So “Happy Holidays” is a nice way of saying to someone “WHOA, there is a boatload of holidays coming up. Please, enjoy all of them!”

But oh boy, do people get irritated by “Happy Holidays” – it seems like the Christmas celebrating folk get the most worked up about it, but that’s just my impression (mostly created by the fact that no one has, so far, shown up on my Facebook wall announcing “THIS PERSON WILL BE WISHING PEOPLE HAPPY CHANUKKAH AND THE C IS SILENT, Y’ALL”).

Here’s what I think: there are so many things to get angry about in this world.  Are we REALLY going to get wrapped up about how we express goodwill toward one another? If I am trying to tell you that I want you to be happy, that I hope you are loved, that I wish amazing things for you, does the exact phrasing matter? Or does it matter that it comes from an honest and loving place in my heart? Because it seems to me that sentiment matters more than wording.  It seems to me that taking the time to wish someone joy is the whole point. So if you want to wish someone a Merry Christmas? Go ahead! And if they wish you “Happy Holidays” in return? They’re not trying to steal or devalue your holiday or beliefs. They’re just returning the well wishes.  That’s ALL. The words are meant as kindly as your words were meant, and believed as sincerely as yours were believed.

So. From me, to you, Merry Christmas. Happy Chanukkah. Merry Kwanzaa. Happy New Year.

Happy Holidays.