It’s that special time of year. Grocery stores are carrying pumpkin and peppermint flavored things. Daylight savings night has brought us an extra hour of sleep. And the Halloween aisles in Target are quickly deconstructed to make room for lighted fake Christmas trees and red and green M&MS. People are quickly shifting their mindset to the holidays as Thanksgiving rounds the corner. With all of the happy reindeer decor, and warm and fuzzy commercials comes the ugly emotional baggage passed down from year to year; the greeting war.

For years Americans have been divided among two groups; the “Merry Christmasers” and the “Happy Holiday” people. This division is so strong that and improper utterance from one party to its rival could result in the most painful and awkward confrontation. To prevent ugly moments, some stores have even gone so far as to forbade employees from referencing the holiday season at all. Lets break down this argument.

Christians believe the holiday season is strictly for Christmas and that “Merry Christmas” is the only proper holiday greeting in order to keep Jesus as the reason for the season or whatever. Often times they follow their “Merry Christmas” with “I only say Merry Christmas because I’m tired of this “’pc’” nonsense. Blah. Blah. Blah. Even though the person on the opposite side of their greeting has neither incurred nor objected with their statement. The rest of the people in the world or the “Happy Holidays” group either do not celebrate Christmas or have simply tried to do a group salutation so as not to offend (“pc nonsense" as referenced above) These are often store employees who deal with large groups of different kinds of people, or those with the least amount of time to listen to your reasoning. For the most part when these two groups interact little to no confrontation occurs but occasionally one greeting being said to its opposition can cause a great deal of issue and offense.

Heres the facts; there are six holidays aside from Christmas being celebrated from November to January; Hanukkah, Ramadan, Kwanzaa, Yule, Omisuka, and New Years. The best thing about America is the fact that it is a giant worshiping melting pot heaping with different traditions and holidays so technically the pc thing to do would be to be a “Happy Holiday” person. But the better part of America is the freedom of choice, so if you have a lot of pride in whatever holiday you’re celebrating then by all means coin your “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Hannuka.” The thing is, is if someone took the five seconds out of their day to wish you a “merry” or “happy whatever” then you should just be thankful. The whole point of this season is to express love and thankfulness. Nine times out of ten people are just trying to say something nice so nod and smile and be thankful that they even acknowledged you. The holidays are stressful enough with family gatherings and maxed visa bills so a kind exchange should be a refreshing change from the rest of the holiday hustle and bustle. Those of you scrooges who are choosing to be offend by an improper sendoff are ruining it for the rest of us. So rock your “Merry Christmas” and “Happy Holidays” or coming up with something completely your own.

“Merry Everything and Happy Always, Folks”