Rosy Glow – P.C. Holidays

By

Andrew DeMarco

I remember a time when P.C. stood for Personal Computer and IBM and Apple were the players, now it has come to mean Politically Correct, which is an oxymoron. Political correctness has crept into the holidays and has totally distorted the spirit of this time of the year. We hear about it all the time, usually when some group is upset about holiday decorations and files a law suit. It seems they get upset if that they find a Menorah, Christmas Tree, Kwanza Candles or Diwali Lights, because it goes against their beliefs, which is usually their belief in nothing or a distortion of the concept of the Separation of Church and State.

They usually sue a town to remove these symbols of the holidays from public property. So my solution is simple. Let’s allocate a piece of the town square for all those who want to celebrate the P.C. Holidays. Let’s give each a 10×10 plot or whatever land they can spare so they can put up their symbols of the holiday. For example, a crèche here a Menorah candle there and maybe nothing in the plot for atheists, since they do not believe in the holidays which is fine with me.

Another part of P.C. Holidays is that it has now become taboo to wish anyone a Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukkah without offending them. One must say Happy Holidays which is not offensive because it is “all inclusive.”  I am not a very religious person, and I do understand the concept of Separation of Church and State but aren’t we getting a bit carried away?

So here goes.  MERRY CHRISTMAS!  There I said it. Merry Christmas, I said it again and I don’t regret it. If you are offended too bad,  I have no problem if you offend me right back and wish me a Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanza, Happy Diwali or happy anything you want because if you do, I understand that you get it and you know what the holidays are all about.

Now that I have had my tirade, let’s get to what the holidays mean to me and hopefully all of us. I know some of this will sound trite and cliché but it needs to be said. The holidays are all about giving, family, friends and tradition. I would think that even if you are not religious, you can appreciate having family and friends together. I know in my family even if we were arguing politics, sports or just disagreeing about life, being together makes it all the better. It always seems that after some good food and drink all the disagreements we may have had just disappear.

Tradition is also very important to me at this time of year and being Italian I do so look forward to the traditional Christmas Eve fish dinner. I also look forward to a tradition that my niece and I started when she was young. The two of us and just the two of us would put together a Christmas Village around the tree. We work on this together planning on what houses will go where and every year we make it different. It gives us some time to bond and I find out what is going on with school and just things in general. I was thrilled when about a week ago she asked me what day we were going to put up the village.  This told me she looks forward to this too and that she understands what this tradition means.

I can go on but I would rather hear from all of you, on what this time of year means to you. So Merry Christmas and if you want to offend me right back please feel free to do so with your comments below.

Finally in the spirit of giving for the holidays, whichever one you celebrate, I will be generous and give you not one but two Rosy Glow moments.

First, I will start a new tradition with my niece. Now that she is 21, when we are finished setting up our Christmas Village we will toast with a nice egg nog. This new tradition should include her supplying either the Rum or Brandy for that egg nog. I am sure all of you, and Cousin Bob would agree, that this will provide my niece and I with that….. Rosy Glow.

Second, here is wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, and a Happy and Healthy New Year, may the new year be filled with many Rosy Glow moments.  To all you P.C. Holiday people out there please know this. When someone wishes you a Merry Christmas it is not meant to offend but to fill you with that feeling that this time of year should and one that Cousin Bob would call that….. Rosy Glow.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!