I Wish You a Merry Acronym

Let me add my two cents to the war on Christmas issue.

An old American saying is that when you are in Rome, do as the Romans. The saying doesn't say anything about making the Romans do as the tourists do.

So I don't get the hostility to celebrating Christmas as Christmas.

And let's not even get into how Christmas is more of a celebration of spending than Christ's birthday.

I'm not offended if someone doesn't celebrate Christmas--either the buying or God version. But why shouldn't I wish you a Merry Christmas? I promise I won't get upset if you wish me a merry/happy/joyous something else. I'll thank you for including me in your celebration rather than being darkly suspicious that you are secretly trying to convert me.

But the war on Christmas will go on regardless of my preference. So let me add my traditional salvo to the war. You can't celebrate Christmas as work?

Fine. Celebrate C.H.R.I.S.T.M.A.S.

I'll repeat the back story. At my last job, we could not celebrate Christmas. We had the Year End Gathering (joyously called the YEG). At least once we had the Beginning of the Year Gathering (BYG) when time didn't allow a pre-New Year celebration.

One year, in response to a challenge, while I walked to my parking spot, I came up with an acronym to celebrate C.H.R.I.S.T.M.A.S.--Collective Holiday Reflecting Individual Sentiments To Mark Another Season. See? No religion involved. Not even in theory amidst the secular Santas and Reindeer and Snow Men.

I was widely saluted for the acronym. But the man in charge of the party that year did not have the nerve to use it. Nor did any of the people in charge of the next several celebrations, as I repeated the suggestion year after year.

I wasn't going to volunteer for the thankless job, obviously.

It has yet to catch on, as you know. But I'll keep promoting it.