Who cares?

"Merry Christmas," the cashier said in the biggish box store. Her hands flew to her mouth maybe to push the words back? "My daughter says I shouldn't say that. It's happy holidays."

"Ridiculous," I said going into my rant about 27 different religious holidays at this time of year. If we know the religion of the person than give the correct saying, but if we don't just sharing a good thought is nice, I said.

I pointed out as an atheist, I'm not offended when someone wishes me anything good. I didn't say that for me the important date is the winter solstice, This year will be extra, extra, extra special because we will attend the Revels, a Boston tradition celebrating different traditions including the solstice. Sharing this loved program with my husband will make it special, and sharing it with my daughter will bring back memories of when we did it together in her teenage years. It's the closeness

Christmas day is extra, extra special because I have BOTH my husband and daughter with me. Usually my daughter is an ocean away. 

Only in the US do people get "their knickers in an uproar" over the phraseology of December seasonal wishes. I used that phrase to the cashier who thought the phrase "hilarious" Obviously she does not have a lot of Brit friends who use it regularly. Probably she doesn't watch a lot of BBC dramas either or it wouldn't have been a novelty.

The store was empty of people. We parted with big smiles wishing each other "Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year with all good things to come."