Merry Christmas

[bedwards87]

I am wondering what everyone here would say if their boss told them to say Happy Holidays. Personally, I say Merry Christmas. I will not take Christ out of Christmas.

When I worked at Food Lion, my boss told us to say happy holidays because they didn't want us to accidentally offend anyone. I said ok but told the customers Merry Christmas anyway. I actually had one lady that after I checked her out, thanked me for having the balls to say merry christmas and that other employees just said happy holidays. So I am now waiting to hear what KFC/Taco Bell says on the issue. Whatever way it comes out, I will still say Merry Christmas.

What are your thoughts on the issue.

[Rapscallion]

This sort of thread often ends up closed and sent towards Fratching. Let's keep it civil, folks.

Rapscallion

[NightAngel]

Well really it depends- if it's Christmas Day then I'll say Merry Christmas if that's what pops out but if it's just inside the general holiday season I say Happy Holidays. Honestly, there are so many holidays in the holiday season I can't keep up so, generally, it's Happy Holidays.

Then again, often times I simply say, "Have a nice evening!" no matter what time of the year it is.

[Saydrah]

I am fond of none of the following items:

1. The holiday season- at least, in retail
2. Christmas
3. Religion
4. Political Correctness

I celebrate Christmas or something like it- well, really, I just celebrate a family get together and a gift-giving holiday sometime during the last week of December. None of my family really has strong religious beliefs or was raised with a strong family holiday tradition, so we just pick whatever day is most convenient (usually Christmas because everyone has the day off) and eat good food and exchange gifts.

Therefore, I don't say happy holidays, merry Christmas, or Happy Hanukkah or anything like it around the holidays. I stick to 'Have a great night,' or 'Enjoy the season,' or something similar that doesn't require me to pretend I enjoy the stress and cranky people the holiday season brings.

However, I'm supremely unoffended by someone greeting me with Merry Christmas, so long as they do not descend uninvited into a diatribe about how evil atheists are sucking the life out of the holiday season. Any friendly holiday greeting that conveys friendliness, goodwill, and kind wishes for the season is fine by me.

[JustADude]

Personally, I say Merry Christmas. I will not take Christ out of Christmas.

...

When I worked at Food Lion, my boss told us to say happy holidays because they didn't want us to accidentally offend anyone.

I'd have no problem saying "Happy Holidays" instead.

The reason being, I am not a Christian, I follow a very personal set of beliefs that contains concepts from everything from Animism to Zen. I don't celebrate Christmas any more than a Jewish person does, but I really don't see where people would get offended by someone wishing them "Merry Christmas" in a spirit of good-will and friendship. I'll leave the commentary on the reactions I get to wishing people a Merry Modranicht, and the explanations required thereof, to Fratching.

[Soulstealer]

As an employee I'd just go with have a nice day since I don't really care what your religon is whatever my employer said.

As a customer from a jewish family I don't really give a damn what employees say to me, it's not like your religon is written on your forehead (except on Ash Wednsday ) and statistically speaking you're likely to be celebrating chrismas where I live so say what you will.

I've noticed it's really corporate wanting to be PC than actual people taking offense to it.

[CancelMyService]

To me, the "Holiday Season" means the whole Thanksgiving to New Year's corridor. It's not taking the Christ Out of Christmas or demeaning religion in any way, unless there's some Christian meaning behind the other holidays that I missed in my years of CCD classes growing up.

I mean, you have the following celebrations: Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and New Year's. Only one of those days is explicitly Christian. Saying "Happy Holidays" will not, despite what Bill O' Reilly would have you believe, make baby Jesus cry.

Sorry if it get to Fratch-tastic here, but this is one of my hot button issues where it's a silly thing for people to get upset about something designed as a distraction from real events.

[Knightmare]

Back in retail days, I've said "Merry Christmas" and "Happy Holidays." It didn't matter to me. I was just wishing my customer a happy holiday season time thingy.

One time I said "Merry Christmas" to a lady, and she came back with "Happy Hannukah." She told me she was Jewish.
Did either of us get upset?

No. We thanked each other and had a very merry holiday.

It's not the words, it's the spirit.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I say "Happy Christmas." I'm an atheist, and I celebrate the holiday season in much the same way as Saydrah does; to get together with family to eat a nice dinner and exchange gifts. But the UK is a Christian country and you don't see me getting my knickers in a knot over it, so I don't think that any other religion has the right either.

[AKWalMartCartGuy]

it doesn't matter what we say, it's just a fake greeting we use to make it look like we care. to be honest I don't care if you pull out of our parking lot and get t-boned, or get home and find a long lost brother and a check for 10 million dollars, I don't care, I just tell you to have a nice day. I probably won't say anything other than the normal "have a nice day". hell, i've even found myself wishing the first on one person

[BookstoreEscapee]

I don't have a problem with "Happy Holidays" but I tend to tailor my "wishes" to the customer. Besides, I hate saying the same thing over and over and over again to every customer. If a customer says Merry Christmas, I'll say it back. And if someone is wearing some Christmas-themed clothing, or buying Christmas merchandise, or otherwise clearly celebrates Christmas, I'll say Merry Christmas. I voted "no" because I wouldn't do a blanket "Happy Holidays" to every single customer, whether my boss told me to say it or not. And outside of Chrismas Eve, unless our chitchat was about the holidays, I usually would just go with the everyday "Have a nice day/night/weekend/whatever" anyway.

[Becks]

One time I said "Merry Christmas" to a lady, and she came back with "Happy Hannukah." She told me she was Jewish.

This reminds me. Either last Christmas Eve or the one before that, I was waiting for my ride to pick me up.

The owner was outside and wished me a Merry Christmas. I thanked him, but I didn't really know what else to say back, because Hannukah had just ended.

[Estil]

Luckily I do work in a retailer that DOES say Christmas in their ads and such. Now, I am not a religious person by any stretch of the imagination (in fact, I basically don't believe in orgainized religion), but Christmas is my favorite holiday and I HATE seeing it reduced down to some cheap generic "holiday" by other retaliers. This is despite the fact that "generic holiday day" is their biggest day/season of the year! And no one is impressed with "happy holidays" anyway; those who celebrate other holidays also prefer (just as we who celebrate Christmas) their holiday called by name, such as saying Happy Hanukah to a Jew or Ramadan(?) to a Muslim. Shoot, I've ran into more customers who don't celebrate Halloween than those who don't celebrate Christmas. Yet retailers have no problem saying other holidays by name. Why does my favorite holiday have to be censored like a four letter word by a few misguided PC retailers? :P Walgreens is the worst offender; not only will they not say Christmas, but they make their employees WORK on Christmas!

One time I said "Merry Christmas" to a lady, and she came back with "Happy Hannukah." She told me she was Jewish.
Did either of us get upset?

No. We thanked each other and had a very merry holiday.

It's not the words, it's the spirit.

I ran into one of those last year. And you know what happened? He explained to me all about Hannukah and the significance of the eight candles, what the season commemorates, and so on. Same goes for when I was at the University of KY and had some Muslim friends who celebrate Ramandan(?) typically around Novemberish.

See generic holiday PC retailers? You can respect (and even learn about) other cultures/beliefs/holidays WITHOUT censoring Christmas.

[simplyanother]

Frankly, I just say "have a nice day" regardless of the time of year. If the customer wishes me a Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays (Or Happy Halloween or Happy Easter, or Happy whatever), then I'll return their greeting. Or say "thank you" if it happens to be something I don't celebrate/believe in.

ETA: I didn't vote in the poll, but I think I'd choose "no" because I don't like to be told what to wish people. I will say that I think that "Happy Holidays" in no way infringes on Christmas. Remember, not only are there the other religious holidays around this time of year, there are the commonly celebrated OTHER holidays, like Thanksgiving and New Years. It's not always about slighting someone, or their beliefs.

I can understand why a thread like this tends not to do well.

[matty]

This comment won't go into the specifics of saying "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays" or so on at this time of year, but it flows on to the more general point about "management sanctioned language".

The customer service guidelines at one of the retailers I used to work at, when you reached the end of the transaction, simply said to bid the customer a friendly farewell, using whatever phrase you preferred. If you wanted to say "Have a nice evening", fine. Or if you preferred saying "Thanks for coming. Hope to see you again soon", no problem. Whatever you were comfortable with.

I believe this approach is infinitely better than a "script". For instance, something like, "Thank you for shopping with XYZ company, have a great holiday season and please return again soon!".