Merry Happy Christmas Holidays

Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays!  Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays!
I don't quite understand the big uproar over holiday greetings.  People have been saying "Happy Holidays" for years without problems.  Bing Crosby sang it in 1942.  No one yelled or grumbled about it then.  The grumbling started when people decided they didn't want to offend those who do not celebrate Christmas, by saying "Merry Christmas", so they started saying "Happy Holidays".  That's nice.  Not offending others is a good practice in life.  But you can't please everyone.   Suddenly the people who DO celebrate Christmas were offended.  This whole thing can be fixed pretty easily though: everyone who is offended by a holiday wish of any sort should stuff it.  When someone tells you Happy Holidays, or Merry Christmas, or Happy Hanukkah, etc....they aren't doing so with malicious intentions.  No one is thinking "Oooh, this guy looks like he's Jewish, I'm gonna burn his butt by wishing him  Merry Christmas."  or "Oh ho!  This lady is a stubborn old Christian, I'll say Happy Holidays just to piss her off".  No.  They are wishing you a joyous, happy, fun, loving, family-filled holiday (whatever holiday it is you celebrate).  I celebrate Christmas but if someone were to wish me a Happy Hanukkah or a Joyous Kwanzaa I would not be offended.  I am open minded enough to recognize and accept that other people, other countries, other religions have different practices and holidays than me.  There is so much negativity and misunderstanding in this world, I am happy to accept their blessing for a wonderful day.  So, next time someone tells you "Happy Holidays", don't gripe and moan, or grumble or argue.  Say "Thank you!" and be grateful that they chose to say something (anything) nice to you in the first place!

Finding Your Place

Madison is in her 4th year of Girl Scouts with the same troop.  For a while I was considering changing what troop she was in.  You see, she goes to a different school than the rest of the girls.  She is the only one.  All the other girls have been in school with each other since kindergarten.  They only meet once a month.  During some activities, Madison would be left out.  If the girls had to choose partners or teams, Madison was the last one to be chosen.  She was an outsider.  She never said anything but I could see in her face that it bothered her. So all school year I have kept my eyes and ears open for troops at Madison's school.

This last month or so has changed my mind.  The girls have "secret buddies" this year.  They each had to write a letter to their secret buddy, in code.  After decoding her letter, Madison discovered that her letter said "It's fun having you in our troop."  Last week, we arrived a little late to the meeting (we have to come from a different school after all).  All the other girls looked up, smiled and said "Hi Madison!"  Then, last night, we ran into one of the girls from the troop at a community event.  Madison walked up and said hi, and the two stuck together for the rest of the night.

So I guess I will leave her in the troop.  It seems her outsider status is finally fading away.  Plus, I know it's good to be exposed to different groups of people so you can learn to interact with various personalities.  It may take time but eventually you find your place.