Happy Holidays: The Fight Over "Merry Christmas"

I was listening to a discussion a few days ago about whether or not stores should say "Merry Christmas" to customers. My art teacher was of the opinion that it is presumptuous to assume that every customer would be a Christian, or at least someone who celebrates Christmas. I disagree, though, not on grounds of free speech, or opposing political correctness, but because of the whole "spirit" of the season.

Somewhere along the road, I'm assuming it was within the 20th century, there began a long tradition of consumerism and surplus spending at the end of the year. People would say "Oh, what the hell, it's Chrismas!" and spend an extra dollar because Christmas could be used as a pretense. It built up when retail stores realized that people "loosened their purse strings" more often around that time of year.

A Christmas Carol is a good example, an early novel that may have been very influential in the subtle transition towards a consumerist society. I'd even suspect that companies have probably sponsored countless Christmas specials including productions of A Christmas Carol, in order to lubricate the Capitalist pistons, so to speak.

My whole point was that Christmas was the original reason for the boom in spending at the end of the year, and I don't understand why stores shouldn't recognize that. I'd add that I wouldn't be offended if someone told me "Happy Hanukkah", but that's not valid because Judaism is in the minority, and I suppose someone could feel annoyed if everyone told him "Merry Christmas" when he actually had significant issues with Christianity. However, I don't believe that "Merry Christmas", said in the context of a retail store, has anything to do with Christianity except for its origin. I'm inclined to feel that when a store employee tells me "Merry Christmas", it means "thanks for spending your holiday money at our establishment instead of somewhere else".

Thanksgiving is coming up, and on the following day, black friday, there will be plenty of sales and discounts so that both consumers and corporations alike will gorge in preparation for some nameless holiday. Winter Solstice is coming; are you ready?