“The company wishes you and your family a happy holiday season.”

An office admin added that final line to an email distributed to clients a few years ago. She did so at the request of her boss - the company’s CEO. He felt that as the email was a summary of the previous quarter - and being sent near the end of December - that expressing “goodwill” to the clients should be included. No one thought much about it - a “simple” line for the shareholder, investors, and wonderful clients.

That one little line set off a firestorm of comments. “If you wanted to wish us a Merry Christmas, as this was sent near December 25th, why didn’t you just write so?” wrote one irate person via email. Another commenter wrote to say that by not specifying a holiday we were “forgetting the reason for the season.” One commenter stated that “if you were going to be ambiguous, you should’ve wished everyone a happy new year - you can’t get into trouble for that.”

At first the admin couldn’t believe what she was reading - all these comments [about 85] about wishing people a happy holiday season? The CEO was surprised and at a loss. Jokingly someone suggested having a company-wide meeting to discuss the matter and plan for next year’s strategy. Bets were placed on how many clients the company would lose - or worse, be negatively reviewed. A few weeks later, the “holiday whoops” was forgotten and not brought up again, though a few of us remembered it and commented on it amongst ourselves.

Ever since then, I’ve thought about the “correct” way to wish someone a happy December holiday season. I was raised in a town where Christians were a minority. Our schools got off all the major Jewish holidays. I was invited to so many Bas Mitzvahs that after nearly 30 years, it’s still leading for the religious ceremony I’ve attended the most of in my lifetime. We never got Easter week off - it was always whichever week Passover fell on.

Where I currently live, it’s a melting pot of religious beliefs. In my immediate complex live Sikhs, Muslims, Buddhists, Catholics, Protestants, Reformed Jews, and Atheists. I know people who celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice, Eid, and Diwali. I’ve wished people “Merry Christmas” to be snarled at and coldly told “I don’t celebrate Christmas.” I’ve wished others a “Happy Holidays” and been corrected with a curt, “It’s ‘Merry Christmas,’ not ‘Happy Christmas’ or ‘Happy Holidays’.” Frankly, I’ve given up and, like the office admin, I’ve decided to accept that there’s no pleasing everyone.

So, with that in mind, the RAKScraps Staff wishes you and yours a very happy and safe 2010. If you celebrate a December holiday, may it be one filled with love, happiness, and light.

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