Soon we will discover if the Republican presidential candidate will succeed with playing on people's emotions. People who are scared, insecure, wishing we'd return to an America that never existed in the first place. And so the insecure folks feel we need to fear the expression "happy holidays."
Let me insert that in the real world, which is the one that I assume most of us inhabit, there is no impulse to groan when hearing "happy holidays." An element of the Republican Party wants us to feel defensive about this, threatened by this.
You know what I miss about Christmas? I miss going to the shopping mall in Alexandria like on the day after Thanksgiving. The atmosphere and ambiance (shall we call it) instilled cheer. It was therapeutic to be there even if you weren't going to be giving your checkbook a workout.
I'm thinking of the days when we all routinely wrote paper checks, as a way of life. Today the plastic cards are out and about. It's a nice new norm and I'm comfortable with that.
Actually I rather dread those rare occasions when I write out a paper check now. In this digital age when so much of our official business is handled in a neatly typed way, well we wonder why we ever put up with our physician's lousy handwriting on prescriptions. (Rim shot)
Seriously, the pervasive nature of typed info with its obvious precision makes it seem almost risky to write things out in pen and ink. You find this to be the case? Writing checks used to be so routine. Today I'm worried if my cursive writing is really going to be reliable enough. And do you find yourself staring at a check several times to make sure everything is just so? Including the date?
I think back when we wrote checks more routinely we kept track of the date better. A curious thought I sometimes have these days: Man, am I going to remember what year we're in? I have to think twice. As an absolute safeguard I'll call up "today's date" on my laptop to be totally sure of the date and the year. I'd be so embarrassed if I got something wrong.
Simply writing cursive is becoming ever more a dinosaur thing. Schools don't even teach it now? Really? Well you'd have to know it if you're a U.S. Postal Service employee, or heaven help us.
I find I have developed a "hybrid" way of writing with pen and ink. Some words or letters I'll write cursive and I'll print the others. For example, I feel more comfortable printing the capital "F". I wonder if people who read my writing even notice it. But I don't do it often, at least for others to read. I take notes and write first drafts of these online missives in longhand - I'm the only one who sees it. So you'd think I'd be comfortable with it. I'm really not.
Some of my personal handwriting traits are idiosyncratic. Let's put it this way: my own personal shorthand sometimes.
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| Remember "Herberger's?" |
The digital world with its efficiencies and shortcuts has been a sea change obviously. And on the whole we must be better off because of it. People must want what it has to offer. Far less "brick and mortar" certainly. Far fewer of the "common labor" type of jobs. How do people feel who look back on a career of being so committed to a job, and then they find that tech has made the whole job obsolete?
Think of the heroes of country music - those truck drivers with their "18 wheelers" who now look around and wonder how far the self-driving trucks will go. Such indispensable work they once did, such commitment that became the stuff of country music hits.
But here's the deal: life goes on for all of us. We can pine for "the America we once knew." We overlook the warts of past times, remember instead the apparent sweetness. Ah, "doctors who made house calls." Our Dr. Rossberg in Morris was out of the old mold. Alas, I don't think you'd want your life to be in his hands.
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| Andy Williams |
"Happy holidays" is the greeting that inspires what you're reading here. We grew up with such a happy gesture, never gave a thought to political suggestion. Not a thought.
Didn't Andy Williams sing the song "Happy holidays?" C'mon he had no suggestive insinuation. Ridiculous to even have to point that out. (Side note: I just checked and the song's title was "Happy Holiday" singular.)
Among the cultural changes we weigh in this most troubling year of 2024 is defensiveness and fear borne of a right wing political imagination.
"Right wing" used to primarily mean lower taxes and focus on the simple business ethic. Along with that, high standards with your personal moral conduct. Morality means absolutely nothing now with Trump, his sons and surrogates being quoted in the news every day. They find fault with saying "happy holidays" because I guess there is no direct mention of Christ.
The Trumps I guess set the absolute standard for what a devoted Christian is. I guess that's a "meme" but obviously a meme that runs headlong into logic. Donald Trump is an amoral lawbreaker. He bathes in harshness which might be directed toward anyone.
Think back to Jimmy Carter a true devoted Christian. But we are most certainly in different times.
I certainly cannot stop what is going to happen in the election. I would much rather take my chances with the so-called "far left" at least for a period of time, rather than have the dangerous amoral specter of Trump hanging over us again.
I do fear Trump will win. They are talking about repealing Obamacare now. So much for universal health care. The U.S. gives billions for Israel which has universal health care. Heaven help us all.
I recently submitted a comment to Yahoo! News about the "happy holidays" greeting and how it is assailed by the right wing, at least the kind of right wing that gets in the media all the time. My comment:
I'm 69 years old and the expression "happy holidays" has been around for a long time. Perfectly acceptable greeting for that time of year, safe, benign, etc. Christmas for Christians is the celebration of Christ's birth even though we don't know the date when that happened. Jewish people do not accept the Savior story. It's a free country and we can all think as we please.
"Russell" responded:
Same. I'm 60 and remember well people saying Happy Holidays as a kid, it's definitely not new.
"Larry" responded:
I happen to think that saying Happy Holidays is a sign of respect and not just assuming that someone is one way or the other.
"Steve" responded:
In honor of the Jesus God fairy tale I like to wish the believers a Merry Xmas and a Festivus for the rest of us.
"Marcia" responded:
When I was young, I lived in an area that didn't have a synagogue and I never met a Jewish person during my youth. When I heard the expression "Happy Holidays", I assumed that it was short for "Merry Christmas" and "Happy New Year". It never occurred to me that it was generic for "Merry Christmas" and "Happy Hannukah". At that time, nobody had ever heard of Kwanzaa.
"Joe" responded:
Well, the Bible says he was born around Passover, the shepards had their flocks in the field (spring), and the 25th of December was traditionally the birthday of Mithras a Roman god of soldiers. The holiday was hijacked by Christianity when Rome took over the religion and forced their own template for paganism on early christians (priests, bishops, nuns, the pope etc.).
"Ima Markin" responded:
I agree! It used to be perfectly acceptable to say "Happy Holiday." There was even a very popular Andy Williams song by that name. Someone decided to make it what is was never meant to be.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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