Three quick Christmas stories this morning:
1. Christmas took one on the chin during recent days in Philadelphia. The giant Christmas Village, a temporary tent encampment of vendors selling all manner of Christmas items on the plaza outside of City Hall, was renamed Holiday Village.
As a city official lamely explained: “I heard about a little Jewish girl walking by with her father, and she said ‘Daddy, do we get a village?’” And as Daniel Rubin responded in the Philadelphia Inquirer today, “Yes dear, it’s called New York.”
Chris’s response to the little Jewish girl story was to say “That’s their data point? That’s the reason they took down the word Christmas and replaced it with Holiday?”
After 48 hours of dithering about Dilworth Plaza and derision from around the world, the decision is in: the word Christmas goes back up.
2. Every year at this time, I am reminded of just how indoctrinated we on the East Coast are by the forces of political correctness. I knew everyone was walking on eggshells when a neighbor came up to me and said “Happy holidays, Jennifer.” Did I mention we were in church at the time? A Presbyterian church. Full of Advent candles and greenery. Where it is safe to assume everyone is Christian and it’s OK to say “Merry Christmas.”
3. After suffering the black eye of the Christmas/Holiday Village, Philadelphia can at least be proud of the massive viral hit of the Hallelujah Chorus being sung by “regular shoppers” at Macy’s in Center City. Apparently this is one of the most viewed clips on YouTube these days. If this doesn’t get you into the holiday Christmas spirit, nothing will.
