It's not
Festivus
yet, but I am going to air a grievance. The
other day I
commented on the published whine of a local woman who apparently
doesn't pay much attention to her Jewish heritage until she can't find
a "simple Star of David" within walking distance of her house to add to
her "multicultural" door wreath. Today's newspaper carries an essay
that annoys me even more.
This one is from
Richard
Kuser, an apparently Christian man who also
lives on the west shore. He claims that we are witnessing the
"grinching of America" because it is becoming "increasingly offensive .
. . to mention the word 'Christmas' or celebrate the true Christian
spirit of the season." He blames this situation on the ACLU (which he
calls the "Anti-Christmas Lawyers Union") and the National Education
Association for issuing a "communist manifesto" calling for the
elimination of any mention of Christmas from public schools. (I don't
know about the ACLU, but I am a member of the NEA and very familiar
with
Finding Common Ground, the
statement it has endorsed jointly with other major educational and
faith-based groups. Mr. Kuser apparently has not read this, since it
says nothing of the kind.) He even claims that in the very newspaper
that is publishing his essay, he can "hardly find the word 'Christmas'
mentioned anywhere." He must not be looking very carefully. I found a
dozen such mentions in the first two pages of the local news section.
He also complains that eveything is called "Holiday." "It's Holiday
Lights, Holiday Tree, Holiday Trim, Holiday Accents. . . Holiday this
Holiday that."
I am reminded of an incident that happened about this time last year. I
was in a Michael's craft store near closing time the saturday before
Christmas. I was there to buy a small string of tiny white lights for
use in a wreath. The woman ahead of me in line was haranguing the clerk
about what she perceived as the store's collusion in worldwide efforts
to eradicate Christmas. "It's all holiday this and holiday that!" she
cried. She went on to lecture him about the true meaning of Christmas.
She was agitated, wild-eyed, and, I thought, quite rude.
I looked at the package of lights I was carrying. I'd gotten it from
the very display the woman was now ranting about. "Holiday" is the
brand name of the decorations.
The clerk, who was about twenty, listened to her patiently. When she
finally stopped talking, he asked her if she wanted to speak to a
manager. She said she wanted to talk to somebody "really high up." The
clerk gave her a card with the names and addresses and phone numbers of
customer service at headquarters. When he gave the woman her change, he
smiled and wished her a Merry Christmas. She scowled at him.
I was so impressed with the way this young man handled an irritated and
irritating customer that I wrote down his name and contacted company
headquarters myself via their website the next day. If anyone had
gotten "the true meaning of Christmas," it was that kid who let the
woman vent and did not respond in kind to her hostility.
People like that woman and the crabby Mr. Kuser, who think that
Christians are now a persecuted class in this country and who assume
the posture of an oppressed minority, are making me tired. They need to
get over themselves.
