To engage with one of grendel824_'s actual points, which seem to have been side-stepped by most people: I wouldn't really like being wished a Happy Hannukah / whatever by people; I don't celebrate it and am indifferent to having a 'good one'. Wishing "Merry Christmas" on people that are obviously not Christian (turbans and kippahs ahoy) also puts you on shaky ground - it doesn't take a wildly fertile imagination for a member of a religious minority to think "why did they feel the need to wish me one" and feel a little unerved.
Also, the UK has America totally beaten when it comes to the War on Xmas (shit I abbreviated it!) hysteria; we've been doing it for years. O'Reilly must have just caught onto it by reading one of our papers.
The whole "war on christmas" thing is just manufactured Fox News nonsense. Brought to you by the Christian majority who want everyone to think they are "oppressed".
Bill O'Reilly kicked it off a couple of years ago with a 'special report' made up out of whole cloth, if you want someone specific to hate on.
Is "made up out of whole cloth" Australian slang for "complete bullshit"?
I'm gonna go ahead and assume it is ;-)
The whole "war on christmas" thing is just manufactured Fox News nonsense. Brought to you by the Christian majority who want everyone to think they are "oppressed".
Bill O'Reilly kicked it off a couple of years ago with a 'special report' made up out of whole cloth, if you want someone specific to hate on.
One of the other talking heads, John Gibson or someone with a name that sounds just like that, wrote a book on it.
I used to work part time for a retailer called Dick Smith (electrical/consumer electronics chain) and we had to answer the phone "Merry Christmas from Dick Smith Electronics, you are speaking to X" November-December. Anyway the phone rang while a friend and I were at the tills, he answered it but was clearly still thinking about something else and said in greeting "Merry Dickmass from Christmas Electronics...." at which point he realised what he was saying and made a recovery.
Happily it seems that most people who call up a store at that time of year don't actually really listen properly, so that was as far as it went.
I used to work part time for a retailer called Dick Smith (electrical/consumer electronics chain) and we had to answer the phone "Merry Christmas from Dick Smith Electronics, you are speaking to X" November-December. Anyway the phone rang while a friend and I were at the tills, he answered it but was clearly still thinking about something else and said in greeting "Merry Dickmass from Christmas Electronics...." at which point he realised what he was saying and made a recovery.
Happily it seems that most people who call up a store at that time of year don't actually really listen properly, so that was as far as it went.
I used to work part time for a retailer called Dick Smith (electrical/consumer electronics chain) and we had to answer the phone "Merry Christmas from Dick Smith Electronics, you are speaking to X" November-December. Anyway the phone rang while a friend and I were at the tills, he answered it but was clearly still thinking about something else and said in greeting "Merry Dickmass from Christmas Electronics...." at which point he realised what he was saying and made a recovery.
Happily it seems that most people who call up a store at that time of year don't actually really listen properly, so that was as far as it went.
Amazing how many people ignore what you actually say.
We used to play that game as well. It was amazing what you could say and get away with based on 1) customers only hearing what they expect to hear and 2) a lot of people seem to like the cheeky salesman
angle.
Or they aren't intrested in what's coming out of your mouth since you either 1) called them (in the case of the fonejacker) and weren't looking for you or 2) know the number they called, assuming no dialing error and know why they are calling. :roll:
Posts
Also, the UK has America totally beaten when it comes to the War on Xmas (shit I abbreviated it!) hysteria; we've been doing it for years. O'Reilly must have just caught onto it by reading one of our papers.
Is "made up out of whole cloth" Australian slang for "complete bullshit"?
I'm gonna go ahead and assume it is ;-)
One of the other talking heads, John Gibson or someone with a name that sounds just like that, wrote a book on it.
That is basically it.
The kind of people who are offended by "merry christmas" are the people who are offended because you look at them the wrong way, or something.
Best thing to do is to ignore them. The more you respond, the more you validate their silly angst.
Happily it seems that most people who call up a store at that time of year don't actually really listen properly, so that was as far as it went.
Gooood morning sir, my name's Miiiiiike, I'm calling from Feed Spaghetti Through Your Japseye Until Your Balls Turn Bluetooth Solutions Limited. Could I ask you some questions about your personal hygiene?
Amazing how many people ignore what you actually say.
We used to play that game as well. It was amazing what you could say and get away with based on 1) customers only hearing what they expect to hear and 2) a lot of people seem to like the cheeky salesman
angle.