By Michael Pearson, Staff Writer
It’s a week til Christmas. You’re out doing your last-minute Christmas shopping, anxiously awaiting the big day, and make your way to the counter. You pay for your gifts and happily wish the cashier a “Merry Christmas” to spread your holiday cheer. However, your holiday spirit is greeted in return with the politically correct phrase, “Happy Holidays.”
In recent years, large retailers have begun to require employees to say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas” in hopes of not offending customers. However, they still put up and sell Christmas decorations and advertisements.
If the phrase if offensive enough that retailers blacklist it, then why are people still fine with it in normal conversations or plastered on store walls? I understand that if someone is not comfortable with a certain phrase, they should not be subjected to hearing it. However, this becomes a problem when they are fine with that phrase when it is used by people they know.
Employees should be able to say “Merry Christmas” if that’s what they believe in, especially if the people they are saying it to don’t mind hearing it in any other scenario – such as seeing it all over the store they are in.
The holiday season is supposed to be a time of happiness and cheer, but is slowly turning into a time of arguments and debate. The more time people spend getting wrapped up in holiday-specific phrases, the less time they spend focused on family and loved ones, which is what the holiday season should really be about.
This debate goes beyond words as well. For example, Starbucks has been torn apart by social media the last few years after releasing a plain red-colored cup during the holiday season, which many deemed not “Christmasy” because it didn’t say “Merry Christmas.” This year, Starbucks has gone with the “Merry Coffee” theme on its cups.
If a company wishes to release a product or say a phrase which can be associated with a holiday, they should have the right to do so without heavy criticism. However, when their employees utter a certain phrase, the company is torn apart on social media.
Certain organizations such as the YMCA also openly affiliate themselves with a certain religion, which allows them to practice celebrating a particular holiday with decorations and phrases without criticism from the masses.
The more people get into Twitter fights or long argumentative text threads during the holiday season, the further they drift from what the holidays are really about.
The holiday season is supposed to be a time when people can put aside their differences and embrace being together as family and friends, not a time to argue and fight about what they deem is right or wrong.
Sophomore Michael Pearson can be reached at 22pearsonmi74@daretolearn.org.
