Happy Christma-Hana-Kwanz-ica!

I'm jewish. So, it may surprise some of you to learn that I enjoy it when someone says "Merry Christmas" to me. I'm not annoyed. I'm not offended. And I, for one, am glad to hear that there is a little more "Christmas" in the holiday season advertisting from retailers this as pointed out in last Friday's USA Today.

Don't get me wrong. I prefer not to see a manger scene on the front lawn of my town courthouse. But a cheerful "Merry Christmas" never hurt anyone! It's not like I lose a little of my jewishness with every Christmas greeting or something.

Here in my department, a colleague organized a voluntary gift exchange. It is being called a "Secret Reindeer" instead of a "Secret Santa" exchange. I think that is just silly. I appreciate the level of sensitivity that went into choosing the name so as not to offend anyone or leave out non-christians. But I'd love to know what the difference is between Santa and his reindeer.



I mean, it's not like they are having a "my personal savior" gift exchange or something! It isn't even as if they are having a gift exchange inspired by the story of Saint Nicholas. I think things have gone way too far.