Life's Lessons in the World

A few days ago, I was at the gym and this young woman says loudly, "No yapping!" It was a bit startling to hear, but it quickly became clear that she was talking to her father and one of his friends. As the exchange continued, it went on that the free-weight room had become an overly chatty environment and very little exercise seemed to be getting done there. Her next comment was very incisive, she described it as a "beauty shop with weights." While my experience in beauty shops is pretty limited, I related it to my boyhood experiences in the barber shop as a boy. If you've never done either, perhaps you've seen Floyd's Barber Shop on the Andy Griffith Show or watched one of the Barber Shop movies. Regardless, the thing that really hit home was the fact that that dynamic is a big part of most running club's group runs - they're a barber shop / beauty shop at 7 miles an hour. I'd mentioned before about my Mom not understanding the joy of running, here was the paradigm I could use.

I go to a local pizza place for lunch about once a week. It's owned by a family (no, not one of THOSE families, at least, I don't think so), the parents are immigrants, the son was raised here. The mother and/or son are around pretty regularly. We'd had a laugh in the spring when, to avoid bread during Passover, I ordered an antipasto. When I declined the bread with it, citing religious reasons, the proscuito and other pork based meats were pointed out to me. I had to explain that to honor my religion, while I didn't keep kosher, therefore didn't eschew pork, during Passover, I wouldn't eat bread. I had to explain my convoluted reasoning, and we all had a smile. This time of year, we had to go through the Merry Christmas / Happy Chanukah / Happy Holidays rigamorole, with the added "War on Christmas" discussion that seems to have become necessary this season. In the end, we acknowledged that we're different, and that respect for those differences is what counts.

There is no "War on Christmas", simply an effort by many people to avoid potentially offending others by wishing them a pleasant wrong holiday. My stance on this thing, if someone wishes you a good wrong holiday, say, "Thank You." Take it in the spirit intended. If you feel a need to point out that they've wished you the wrong one, then do so, and add, "But I appreciate the good wishes." We should all try to be sensitive to the feelings of others by bidding them one of the generic holiday wishes, such as "Happy Holidays" or "Season's Greetings" unless we know which they celebrate.

Whatever your religion, let me wish you the best this holiday season.