Okay, let's be careful to make this neither political nor religious . . . .

In theory, I don't celebrate Christmas. In fact, last year, I started playing a CyberGen game instead. (I finished by having a depressive episode, but that's a story for another time.) Most years, however, I do attend a Christmas gathering of some sort. I still get a Christmas phone call from my mother. And my coreligionist and I, both of whom finish our religious celebrations four days before Christmas like good Pagans, still refer to "Christmas presents," and she was raised Pagan. Even though we give them on Yule. (Or at least most years. She's still snowbound, so probably some time around New Year's.)

My thinking, however, has been that everyone in America, and most people around the world, celebrate at least two holidays at this time of year, even if Christmas isn't one of them. We celebrate Thanksgiving and New Year's. Therefore, "happy holidays" makes more sense to me. However, I do accept "merry Christmas" in the spirit in which (most) people intend it. I was also, however, pleasantly surprised when my psychiatrist asked me what the proper greeting was for a Pagan at this time of year.

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Gillian

"Now everyone was giving her that kind of look UFOlogists get when they suddenly say, 'Hey, if you shade your eyes you can see it is just a flock of geese after all.'"

"You can't erase icing."

"I can't believe it doesn't work! I found it on the internet, man!"