Holidays and Harry Potter

Well alright!!  I ask for some topics, and I actually got some responses.

Greetings to Karol, who was kind enough to check in from NJ, despite the rash of holiday services I’m sure she’s officiating.  Since she was the first one to put up a comment, I’ll tackle her topic first (though she actually sent it in an email):  The whole “Happy Holidays” replacing “Merry Christmas” thing (I hate to call it a controversy).

As a business owner, I’m sure some of the people I’m dealing with are Jewish, so wishing them a Merry Christmas probably doesn’t go over that well.  In fact, I sent out the “Holidays” cards this year just to make sure I’m not needlessly ticking anyone off.  Yes, I’m celebrating Christmas, but that doesn’t mean you are, and if I don’t know you that well, I’m certainly not going to ask you what your religion is just so I can give you the proper greeting.  So yep, I’m going with Happy Holidays.  And I don’t blame businesses for doing this one bit.

If I try to put myself on the other side of the coin, it gets a little weird.  How would I react if someone came up to me and said “Happy Hanukkah”?  After a momentary bit of confusion, I’d probably be asking myself, “Why does this person think I’m Jewish?”  Without getting into any stereotypes, it would make me think a little.  I really don’t want to put someone in that same position.

In short, I’m not sure why everyone is getting worked up about this.  It might be a little different if I were running a Christian bookstore or something like that.  A better question may be why it took so long.

As for Ann’s request about Harry Potter movies, well Ann, you may have found a topic I don’t know that much about.  I’ve seen (not read) some of the books, and the newer ones were just enormous.  Since I haven’t gone to see a movie in 9+ years, I have no idea what the movies are like.  I know there’s kids going to some kind of witchcraft school, and the one of the characters resembles the “Where’s Waldo” dude, just without the hat.  But I have no idea how many there have been or who’s been in them.  I’ve got about as much use for them as the NBA, which is to say not much.