Merry YULE, Everybody!

Something that has begun to get to me increasingly over the last few years is this "Christmas is under attack" thing that unspecified Christians trot out every year. I say "unspecified" because the news never seems to tell exactly what denomination it is that feels so threatened by the use of "Happy Holidays" vs. "Merry Christmas." As previously noted, I work in retail/customer service. Know what? Just because you look African American, I'm not going to assume you celebrate Kwaanza, nor will I assume you celebrate Channukah, unless you happen to be my cousins, David or Ed. Yet I, who celebrate Yule, must grin and bear it when well-meaning WASPs insist on saying "Merry Christmas" to me, and demand I respond in kind. When guests come through the shop door, I say "Happy Holidays" because I consider it INAPPROPRIATE to assume I know just what Winter Festival of Lights a person may celebrate. In my family, there are (at least, that I know of) three different traditions. Everybody respects everybody's thing-they-do. So at Han's, it may be the Christmas tree, while at my place, it's the Yule tree, and at David's it's the Menorah. IT ALL STANDS FOR THE SAME GENERAL IDEA, THE SPIRIT OF THE SEASON. ALL TRUTH COMES FROM THE SAME SOURCE AND THE ALL-THAT-IS WILL COMMUNE AND COMMUNICATE WITH YOU IN THE WAY YOU CAN BEST CONNECT!!!!!!!!! When I say to you, "Happy Holidays!" I'm not attacking your beliefs, I'm doing my best to respect them. And I'm not even going to try to explain to you why you really OUGHT to call it a Yule tree, because to start an argument with you would be uncharitable, and not in keeping with the spirit of the season. It is, however, quite true that Christian holiday traditions have a lot of Pagan "DNA," as it were.;-D
So, anyway, can we stop all this "Oh, I'm so OFFENDED!!" cacapoopoo, mellow out and have a nice season that focuses, at least a little bit, on Peace on Earth? Please pass the eggnog--and get that mistletoe outta my face!:-))