(Belated) Wiccan Wednesday : Blessed Yule and Other Holiday Greetings

Lately, my social media seems awash with people being offended.

They’re offended by politicians, they’re offended by organizations, they’re offended by coffee cups, and they’re especially offended by the way people say goodbye to them during the winter months.

“Merry Christmas? Don’t people realize that I’m not Christian?”

“Happy Holidays? Don’t people recognize the religious aspect of holidays anymore?”

When it comes to greetings and goodbyes, it seems like a damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don’t kind of situation.

When the hell did we all get so touchy?

 

Here’s the thing, unless you’re walking around wearing a tshirt that says “Hello, I am [insert religion or belief system or lack thereof] so please recognize my holiday [insert holiday name or lack thereof]” you have no right to be offended. And even then, it’s iffy.

If you’re offended by a stranger’s holiday greeting, then you, my friend, are a turd.

That person doesn’t know you from Adam, and yet they were thoughtful enough to wish you a good day in the best way they knew how.

Maybe you would prefer that they recognize your individual religious belief or holiday celebratory style. But guess what -they have no idea what you celebrate or what you believe. And, honestly, they’ll probably never see you again in their damn life. So when the cashier at your grocery store says “Happy Holidays” please, please, don’t be the guy who responds with “Actually I’m a [religion], so I say [greeting]”.

It just makes you look like a buttmunch.

Some people take it a step further and become offended, not only by the greetings of strangers, but by the way their friends address them in the winter months.

Oh, so your friend said “Merry Christmas” the other day, even though they know that you don’t celebrate Christmas? And this has filled you with righteous indignation and offense?

Okay. Step back.

First of all, you seem like such a turd that you should be grateful that anyone is offering you any kind of holiday greeting at all. I mean, jeeze.

Second of all, you aren’t the center of everyone’s friggin’ universe.

Everyone is so different and has such different belief systems that sometimes it can honestly be hard to keep track of everyone’s everything every second of every day. Can you really blame a person if they just throw out a blanket greeting from time to time? Perhaps the greeting that they would enjoy hearing?

Look, the bottom line is this : if anyone offers you any kind of seasonal greeting, they’re doing it out of kindness. Why in the world would you take offense to that?

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And to that end, Blessed Yule, friends!

Go out and be un-offended.

-Ck