Got yelled at today over "happy holidays"

[Stormy Arthur]

So I was picking up some planters today at the local hardware store. While checking out I wished the clerk a happy holliday. Her response was (in a very loud bark). "You mean Merry Chrismas!"

I didn't really believe this stuff happened, 'specially here in the Peoples Republic of Cambridge.

[WadePatton]

this time of year takes a toll on retail employees.

they've been listening to the same "mix tape" since mid-October with an ever increasing dose of desperate shoppers, overtorqued management, malignant media...

first world probs yo.

cheers!

[Christian Fox]

This whole thing has gotten so stupid; the "happy holidays" PC move was bad enough, now the backlash against is just as annoying. Reason #756 I hate the fucking holidays.

[zetroc]

A cucumber is bitter. Throw it away. There are briars in the road. Turn aside from them. This is enough. Do not add, "And why were such things made in the world?"

^^^^^

[lukasz]

Should have told her to stop being such a nazi about semantics.

[quickag]

that's why I always respond to greetings with "FUCK YOU!" that way everyone is offended equally.

[steve garro]

So I was picking up some planters today at the local hardware store. While checking out I wished the clerk a happy holliday. Her response was (in a very loud bark). "You mean Merry Chrismas!"

I didn't really believe this stuff happened, 'specially here in the Peoples Republic of Cambridge.

You're right - and, now I'd like to see a manager & return these items - Happy Holidays!
- Garro.

[vertical_doug]

So I was picking up some planters today at the local hardware store. While checking out I wished the clerk a happy holliday. Her response was (in a very loud bark). "You mean Merry Chrismas!"

I didn't really believe this stuff happened, 'specially here in the Peoples Republic of Cambridge.

I thought shopping was universally recognized as the U.S. religion the founding fathers fought for all those years ago. Didn't W say it was our patriotic duty to go shop at the Mall so they can't win.

Christmas in the States had been the theater of the absurd, this year it morphed in the grotesque.

[Mike Mcdermid]

Fuck me i like the way a lot of people think at this time of year

[theflashunc]

I'm guessing she doesn't want you to have a good Epiphany/Three Kings Day.

[davids]

The Boston Globe's "manners" columnist, Miss Conduct, had some very wise words on this silliness a few years ago:

For Christmas People: There Is No "War on Christmas," So Get Over It. Last year, a group of loudmouths decided to make a big fuss about a nonexistent "War on Christmas," the major point of which, as far as anyone could tell, was that people were occasionally being wished "Happy Holidays" and that religious displays in public squares were correctly identified as such. Christians were urged to fight this "war" by sticking proudly to their guns and wishing everyone around them a Merry, Militant Christmas. This is utterly ridiculous - and utterly against the spirit of Christmas. As a religious holiday, Christmas celebrates the miracle of God entering the world as an infant born in a stable: naked, poor, and powerless. The most beloved secular myths of Christmas are also about treating the poor (Bob Cratchit), the different (Rudolph), and the humble (Charlie Brown's Christmas tree) with respect and compassion. So how about showing a little of that Christmas spirit to others who don't celebrate as you do? Particularly, don't get snooty with salesclerks who wish you "Happy Holidays." You're not standing up for any grand principle when a clerk says "Happy Holidays," and you respond "Merry Christmas!" in a snarky tone. You're just being mean to people who probably make $6.75 an hour, so stop it.

Know That "Happy Holidays" Is PC - Plain Courtesy. Saying "Happy Holidays" doesn't mean that you're denying your religion or cultural practices; it means you're being considerate to others who might not share them. (Or that you're covering Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's for people whom you don't see that often.) That said, if you do know what holiday someone celebrates, it's rather silly not to wish him or her a nice specific one. When the Cohens show up at the Mahoneys' annual December party, a round of stilted "Happy Holidays" at party's end sounds a bit ridiculous. Better for the Mahoneys to wish their guests "Happy Hanukkah" and the Cohens to wish their hosts a "Merry Christmas." A diverse city like Boston includes more than just Christians and Jews, and "Happy Holidays" works fine if you're not sure what, if anything, someone celebrates. (It's not always simple. Some non-Christians celebrate Christmas as a secular holiday, and some Christians do not celebrate Christmas.) Whatever your religion or lack thereof, chances are you're getting some time off in November or December or bonus pay for working, so "Happy Holidays" is appropriate.

For Non-Christmas People: You're in the Minority, So Get Over It. Being wished "Merry Christmas" is hardly the same thing as being baptized and forced to recite the catechism at gunpoint. If you are a Muslim, Jew, Buddhist, or random heathen who is wished "Merry Christmas," look at it as an opportunity to espouse your values and tell your well-wisher how you plan to spend December 25: "Thanks! I'll be subbing for one of my colleagues at the hospital so she can be with her family." "Merry Christmas to you, too. My friends and I always get together for Chinese food and a movie." "I can't wait. Christmas is one of the few days of the year I have time to get to the mosque for all five prayers!"

Remember That Excessive Christmas-ness Gets on Everyone's Nerves. Many folks who don't celebrate Christmas are annoyed by the holiday's relentless in-your-faceness. Here's a secret: It annoys most Christmas-celebrators, too. Even the most rabid Santaphile does not want to hear those sleigh bells jingling and ring-ting-tingling before the Halloween candy is cleared from the shelves. And if the ubiquitous decorations irritate you, be grateful that you're not the one who has to dig them out, put them up, and take them down every year.

So can we all just get along now, and none of this "War on Christmas" nonsense? Good. Now let's get to some fun stuff...

And this is from a friend of mine, just yesterday:

I saw a guy walking up Orleans with a button that read, “It’s okay to say ‘Merry Christmas.’ ’’ I almost tapped him on the shoulder and snarled, “Well then why not just say it, if it’s OK, instead of making such a big deal out of it?” By the time Fox News is done with “Merry Christmas” the phrase will have the sting of “sieg heil.”

So there you go.

[Jake Rosenfeld]

I move that we make christmas like the Olympics and only celebrate them every four years.
It would be a lot more fun to look forward to and to prepare for.

[bcm119]

I don't understand the backlash to "happy holidays", since I thought it referred to the fact that there are multiple holidays this time of year (one of your choosing + new years). It doesn't exclude anyone. That said, it has become increasingly difficult to ignore the disgusting side of the holidays. We're doing a 'yard sale or nothing' christmas this year, that way no one buys any new shit. Is it Thursday yet?

[caleb]

this time of year takes a toll on retail employees.

they've been listening to the same "mix tape" since mid-October with an ever increasing dose of desperate shoppers, overtorqued management, malignant media...

first world probs yo.

cheers!

I'm so scared of going out in public right now that I waited until 9pm to go grocery shopping yesterday.

I can't even imagine working retail in December. There's basically nothing nonviolent an employee could do that I would hold against them. People with families, and cars, and credit cards, and shopping lists, and guests, and kids, and presents, and… are crazy, yo.

Babysitting batshit nuts adults for someone else's profit has to be about the worst job in the world.

[xjoex]

Years and years ago I worked at a dot com that held a Winter Party. Some loud mouth was complaining that without christ there was no christmas, so call it what it is. Meanwhile 75% of the company was clearly non christian since english was not the primary language in our office.

Me, I was born a snake handler and I'll die a snake handler.

Happy Holidays!
-Joe

[Chad]

Happy Serpent Handlers Day all!

You don't want to piss that guy off...

[steve garro]

What's the deal?
Holidaze lasts from before halloween to NYD now in the USA.
- Garro.

[Mabouya]

Me, I was born a snake handler and I'll die a snake handler.

You kooky Pentecostals - be careful this doesn't happen to you.

[EricKeller]

"happy holidays" far predates the '80s when some republican came up with the "PC" thing when they got tired of being told they were a racist boor.

[blue boy]

Well,.....in keeping with the spirit of this thread, how bout a hardy " Merry Freakin Ho Ho!"