Thanksgiving turned out to be a sensational experience for me this year: the weather was fantastic, the food menu was nontraditional (which was quite tasty and none was left over... to include beer), and the sports venue—as well as time spent with family and friends—was tremendously entertaining. These are the kind of moments I'm sure we all enjoy and cherish as we observe the holidays. But then I saw a Best Buy paper advertisement. I was suddenly reminded of how sensitive and litigious our society has become.
Some time ago, Best Buy announced that it would no longer print the words “Merry Christmas” in its flyers. Incidentally, I was reading through one of its ads last week to get a feel for the kinds of things offered for the famous Black Friday sales, when I happen to come across the company's way of spreading holiday cheer: Happy Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Solstices, and Eid A-Adha (a Muslim holiday that contained bolder font and extra bordering)... no mention of happy Thanksgiving, which at the time of this ad was the befalling of the holiday.
Now, I understand why this ad was posted this way; I understand the reasoning behind why we fuss and fight over holidays nowadays. I'm all for healthy debates and the mulling over pros and cons; merits and demerits of certain viewpoints. However, while I feel that it is appropriate to be inclusive (in terms of other worldly causes and points of views), I feel that it is inappropriate to be exclusive when it comes to our own causes, traditions, and views. I somehow get the feeling that we placate the other side and other traditions more than we do our own. Is this because our overly litigious society makes it uncomfortable for some to rest at night from fear of legal backlash? Have judges morphed their own roles to resemble lawmakers rather than interpreters? Are we, on some level, afraid that we may be attacked again on grounds of "American dogma"?
I don't know about you, but I'm tired of all the bickering, fussing, and fighting at a time when we're suppose to be cheerful and festive. This happens every year! Have we not sorted this out yet?
-R
Thanks giving is always a surprise at my house we fight over the mash potatoes and my mom bitches about having to cook all the food ,but wont take any help????? plus I cant remember the last time we cooked a turkey we always cook nontraditional stuff but always so goooooooooooooood moms be throwing down:)
ReplyDeleteAmen! I don't mind 'happy holidays' so much (I don't buy Glen Beck's war on Christmas nonsense for a second) but I agree completely that it is insane, even suicidal, for a culture to ignore its own heritage and values. I nice "Happy Holidays" covers it all, but if they're gonna list everybody else's holidays, put in the ones that remain important to the vast majority of Americans: Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Super Bowl Sunday.
ReplyDeleteI'm a cheerful pagan who's got no problem hoping everyone had a terrific Thanksgiving and has a Merry Christmas. (Although I might type it while wearing my Grinch sleep pants!)
Love the nontraditional food, too. Many's the Thanksgiving chili we sat down to. And for Christmas, I'm throwing together a Senegalese peanut spinach stew (it. is. the. best.) So much for tradition in Casa Lobo!
Pssshhhtt... Non-traditional Thanksgiving food? I'll take my ham and turkey and stuffing and sweet potato casserole and broccoli cheese rice and mashed potatoes and corn and rolls and glasses of wine any day. I did do the Italian Thanksgiving once when I was engaged to a full fledged Italian. Went to Connecticut for the best Italian spread you could imagine cooked by his mother. Enough small talk though.
ReplyDeleteI get tired of people complaining about the Merry Christmas crap. Why does it affect them so much? There are plenty of places that do not push these ill terms on you. It's America, we have the rights to speak and voice our opinions and I think way too many people just use that as an excuse to flap their jaws and draw attention to themselves. Get over it. There are much more important issues you could be worrying about and advocating.