Last night on the news they said that Wal-Mart has decided to go back to saying, “Merry Christmas” and that they are changing their “Holiday” displays back to “Christmas” displays. I have exactly one question about this:
Why is this news?
Seriously, was it a slow news day or something? If so, I can think of some better filler.
The last time I checked, this was a free country. People, and indeed stores, can offer any holiday greeting they choose. As long as it’s not, “Bah, humbug!” I’m likely to respond positively. Since Christmas is just one day and the holiday season lasts from Thanksgiving to New Year’s, I tend to offer people happy holidays, but that’s just because I’d like the entire season to be merry. It is, after all, a stressful time for many people. The suicide rate goes up around this time as many lonely people feel more isolatd than ever amidst the holiday cheer.
In fact, I think it is high time we stopped arguing semantics and started trying to offer people real holiday cheer — especially to those who need it most.