A holiday for all

I’m not sure if I can speak for everyone (though I like to pretend I can), but when I was young, Christmas was solely about the acquisition of presents. That was basically the only aspect of the holiday season I had any interest in.\nToday, I think it’s the last item on the list of reasons I enjoy the holidays.\nThis epiphany came to me in several phases over the past week. The first one was when I couldn’t answer when asked what gifts I wanted. I legitimately couldn’t think of any material goods that I wanted and couldn’t buy for myself easily and without fanfare. The second was when I had to work at a major clothing retailer on Black Friday. Watching the throngs of people battling over clothing, hunting down bargains and buying, buying, buying – it just felt to me that the people I was watching (and helping) maybe had the wrong idea.\nThe main catalyst for this epiphany, though, was a positive one. Since at IU we don’t have a fall break (which is great, by the way), Thanksgiving was the first time in months that I was able to see my family, as well as all of my friends who don’t go to school here. I hadn’t noticed how much I missed all of those people until I got to see them again.\nFor the past several years, it has been fashionable for TV pundits and gasbags everywhere to bemoan the effects of the “war on Christmas” that is supposedly taking place. Evidently businesses posting signage with “happy holidays” in an effort to relate to as many customers as possible qualifies as a war now. Personally, I’ve never had a person wish me a happy Rosh Hashanah or Eid-al-Fitr, so I don’t really understand why all people should have to bend to the will of Christmas when all people don’t celebrate it. \nI don’t think that it’s really a “war” on Christmas, though, or even that the evolution of the holiday season is a bad thing. Christmas is, of course, first and foremost a religious holiday. It’s a time when Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus. \nHowever, it has come to have another meaning over the years – aside from the birth of Jesus and the dubious commercial meaning – one that’s much more all-inclusive. The end-of-the-year holiday season has come to be more about togetherness and unity than anything else, primarily a time when family and friends can reunite and celebrate. \nI feel the best way for the American people to celebrate the holidays is just to let each other do it as they prefer. There shouldn’t be so much unnecessary conflict at a time of year that is specifically set aside for happiness and peace. Christians can have Christmas, Jews can have Hanukkah and corporate CEOs can have Black Friday. However, the primary focus ought to be those we love. That’s the one thing that we can all agree on.