San Diego Reader

Why does everybody have to say Happy Holidays?

Why can’t we say Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Eid, have a great Kwanzaa, Happy Winter Solstice? Why can’t we ALL celebrate ALL of them? Like being guests at neighbors’ houses.

I mean, look at all the food we’re missing out on if we just stay exclusive to one. Like jelly-filled donuts and potato pancakes (Hanukkah), rosewater-scented, date-filled pastries and pine-nut cookies (Eid, the Muslim festivities), peanut soup and sweet potato pie (Kwanzaa), yule logs and plum pudding (Christmas), mutton soup and yule porridge (uh, traditional solstice celebration foods) …

See how ex-clusivity robs us? I think it’s time the leaders of these great religions/cultural ceremonies found a way to get us together rather than split us up.

Right now it’s like, you eat your way, I’ll eat mine.

With these shivering temperatures and mid-winter (not the start of winter, like the TV weather people tell us) just a day away, for my money, it’s time to huddle round the fire and share all the food.

Together.