coercion

[pippin_999]

> Carol:
> And it's not coercive to force employees to say "Happy holidays"
> against their will even to customers who would prefer that greeting?

Pippin:
I don't think it's fair to ask employees make assumptions (based on
what?) about what kind of greeting their customers would prefer. Let
management make the decision and take the heat, since they obviously
can't please everybody. From what you said, it bothers you that "Happy
Holidays" seems transparently commercial whereas  "Merry Christmas"
sounds heartfelt and you can't understand why anyone would be offended
by it because so much of Christmas is secular anyway. 

Thank goodness I've never had to deal with much anti-Semitism in the
US, but my parents did, and yes they did find reminders of the
Christmas season offensive,even Santa Claus and Christmas trees,
because in their day it was often the occasion for anti-Semitic
sermons. If oversensitivity is the price we pay for putting those
days to an end, I think it's a small one. 
 
Pippin