pssst… Merry Christmas!
Earlier this week I went to the local post office to mail some letters (haven’t gotten around to Christmas cards yet). There was a small seasonal mailbox inside labeled “Letter’s to Santa.” As I noted in a Twitter update a few days ago, I was happy that someone else had already blacked out the apostrophe because I didn’t have a pen with me.
Improper use of apostrophes makes Santa cry, Post Office employees. Stop making Santa cry.
The crowd wasn’t bad, so I was still in a good mood when I reached the front of the line. The woman behind the counter was friendly and my transaction went smoothly. “Happy Holidays,” I bubbled as I took my receipt and turned to leave. The woman leaned in to me a little before I took off and said in a half whisper, with a little knowing nod, “Merry Christmas.” Then she smiled and called the next person in line.
I walked away a little befuddled. If she had just said, “Merry Christmas” as a normal greeting without the hushed tone or added body language, I would have gone on my merry way without thinking twice.
But she leaned in as if Merry Christmas was our little secret. Perhaps to suggest that I should feel comfortable saying Merry Christmas to her instead of Happy Holidays. Perhaps assuming I’d wanted to say Merry Christmas in the first place.
But I didn’t. I wanted to say Happy Holidays—which includes both Christmas and the New Year for most people, yet doesn’t assume that the recipient celebrates either. It could mean Hannukah or the Winter Solstice or an end-of-year holiday from work or school. It’s typically said with warmth and good intentions, just like Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and Happy Birthday are.
I occasionally say Merry Christmas to people with the same warmth that I say Happy Holidays, and I’m certainly not offended if someone wishes me a Merry Christmas (or Happy Hannukah or Kwanzaa or Chinese New Year or whatever).
Something just rubbed me the wrong way about how the post office employee made me feel like my parting words should have been Merry Christmas instead of Happy Holidays.
I went to the post office again today, but only to drop off Christmas packages to which I’d already affixed shipping labels. Nobody had a chance to say Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays to me. I did note, however, that the same “Letter’s to Santa” sign with the blacked out apostrophe was still there. Bah Humbug to that.
