In Defense of the Happy Holidays Greeting
Recently, I greeted an acquaintance with, "Happy Holidays!" What I received in return was the most unexpected reply, "Come on, Linda, you mean Merry Christmas, don't you?" Since I knew that this particular person was Christian, it might have seemed more appropriate to wish a Merry Christmas as I left, but we were in a public venue with people who I knew did not celebrate the Christian holy day of Christmas, let alone the secular version. So... the greeting of Happy Holidays as I was leaving seemed very appropriate. As you can see from the picture above, there are many Holy/holi days in the winter months. The ones pictured include six that are not Christian. Since I work, live and communicate in a multicultural, multi-faith traditioned society, I believe wishing others a happy holiday is A. kind, B. thoughtful and C. more than appropriate. I also think about that adage that many use, "What would Jesus do?" Well, first of all, Jesus wouldn...