Around this time of year, I find myself in public places like grocery stores constantly be wished “Merry Christmas.” This, of course, does not at all bother me (although being Jewish I recognize the significance of the holiday, I do not celebrate Christmas), and my standard response is “Merry Christmas to you, too.” Emails in late December from colleagues who do not know that I am Jewish often express similar sentiments, although typically a more generic “Happy Holidays” sometimes replaces the more specific Christmas wishes.<\/p>\n
My reason for not explaining that I am Jewish is unrelated to a fear of anti-Semitism but is purely pragmatic; I am often on my way out the door when the greeting is called out — and what does it matter, anyway? The whole intention was from a well-wisher, and does it matter how it was expressed?<\/p>\n
All these thoughts brought me to a little experience that I had a few weeks ago, walking my dog Ginger through the neighborhood and down a little gully toward a hiker-biker path. On this Sunday morning, I passed a couple that I assumed were probably in their early 70s. The woman was wearing a traditional sari, and I assumed that the couple was likely from India. While Omaha is definitely becoming a much more cosmopolitan city, admittedly, my neighborhood out in the western suburbs is not especially diverse. I passed them, greeted them with a “good morning” and continued on my way.<\/p>\n
As I walked on, it occurred to me that as I was thinking to myself that it’s great that the neighborhood is showing more diversity, with more African Americans and Indians, the couple I passed could be similarly stereotyping me. A large “white”\/Caucasian male is par for the course in Nebraska. And while I am not large, perhaps in comparison with the Indian couple I appeared to be. Next, Nebraskan natives are definitely dog lovers, and a huge proportion of households have a dog (or more than one). Often the dogs are large ones, such as Labrador retrievers — and Ginger is a large dog.<\/p>\n
So all in all, it wouldn’t be a stretch for the couple to look at old Steve (and if they knew my name, that might be another hint at a typical Nebraskan native) and figure that I was probably born, raised and lived all my life here. And wouldn’t that be a joke!<\/p>\n
So next time someone wishes me a “Merry Christmas” perhaps I should wonder whether they necessarily celebrate Christmas themselves, or are merely saying it for my benefit…<\/p>\n
In any case, to the best of my knowledge, Merry Christmas to all of YOU!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Around this time of year, I find myself in public places like grocery stores constantly be wished “Merry Christmas.” This, of course, does not at all bother me (although being Jewish I recognize the significance of the holiday, I do … Continue reading