Friday, December 22, 2017
Merry Christmas! ...
Merry Christmas, from all of the staff of Unforeseen Contingencies! Gregorian calendar, of course, we'll have another post for Orthodox Christmas.
Julie, Chaos, and I are making our annual December pilgrimage across the Great American Desert, and have arrived safely in Glendive, Montana. Tomorrow we will proceed to my mother's place in Great Falls. The trip has been normal, little to report so far... light snow in UP, even lighter snow in eastern Wisconsin, cold weather in Minnesota (with locals commenting on the unusual warmth), high winds and ground blizzards in North Dakota (with everyone, including me, noting that these were very good driving conditions for North Dakota).
But there was one thing slightly unusual that I noticed. In every single store, restaurant, and motel we've stopped, people have wished us a "Merry Christmas." By my count, this is increasing in popularity. I think that's important. I think it's a sign that political correctness is not sinking in.
Yeah, yeah, this is a small and maybe not-random sample, and I suppose one could say it's so minor as to be meaningless. I disagree. First, it's the only sample I have, so lectures on what the sample should have been are irrelevant, let's learn what we can from it. Second, no, it's not unimportant. The primary way of controlling people is to get them to do it themselves, primarily through intimidation and guilt. Cracking down on traditional values and beliefs is away to do this. Well, it's not working.
There was a time when people seemed a bit afraid to say "Merry Christmas," especially in a commercial setting. But at least in places I've been that doesn't seem to be true now. Sure, we weren't in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, or Madison, Wisconsin,or Ann Arbor, MI. But in saner parts of the country, sanity may well be advancing.
Merry Christmas!
Julie, Chaos, and I are making our annual December pilgrimage across the Great American Desert, and have arrived safely in Glendive, Montana. Tomorrow we will proceed to my mother's place in Great Falls. The trip has been normal, little to report so far... light snow in UP, even lighter snow in eastern Wisconsin, cold weather in Minnesota (with locals commenting on the unusual warmth), high winds and ground blizzards in North Dakota (with everyone, including me, noting that these were very good driving conditions for North Dakota).
But there was one thing slightly unusual that I noticed. In every single store, restaurant, and motel we've stopped, people have wished us a "Merry Christmas." By my count, this is increasing in popularity. I think that's important. I think it's a sign that political correctness is not sinking in.
Yeah, yeah, this is a small and maybe not-random sample, and I suppose one could say it's so minor as to be meaningless. I disagree. First, it's the only sample I have, so lectures on what the sample should have been are irrelevant, let's learn what we can from it. Second, no, it's not unimportant. The primary way of controlling people is to get them to do it themselves, primarily through intimidation and guilt. Cracking down on traditional values and beliefs is away to do this. Well, it's not working.
There was a time when people seemed a bit afraid to say "Merry Christmas," especially in a commercial setting. But at least in places I've been that doesn't seem to be true now. Sure, we weren't in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, or Madison, Wisconsin,or Ann Arbor, MI. But in saner parts of the country, sanity may well be advancing.
Merry Christmas!
