That guy puts it very well. We should be proud of who we are and what we celebrate. It's our culture. We shouldn't change our culture for others.
It's kind of like the situation we have here in Vancouver. English is nearly a minority language here (only 48% of people in Vancouver speak English as a first language). Or maybe it's less, I can't remember.
There is so much Cantonese, Mandarin, Hindi, Philipino, etc, etc and as an English speaking white person I am pretty much not allowed to demand that they learn our national language... or even French (our other national language)... It's ridiculous, especially when many refuse to learn English, and get angry at us for not knowing their language. There are two employees at the store I work at that have been living in Canada for over 20 years. Neither can speak English, or understand it. That is so ridiculous, but because of the major labour shortage in Vancouver we are forced to hire totall ESL people. Let me just say that our customer service has gone way down. Especially when an ESL employee is asked a question and in broken english says "Ask him" and points towards an english speaking employee.
If I were to move to Japan, or Germany I'd make it my priority to learn the language and become part of the Culture, while not forgetting my Canadian heritage. But I wouldn't walk into a country and refuse to "fit in." That's just darn rude.
I know I'm generalizing, but seriously... we have a major problem in Vancouver with people deciding not to become Canadian, but rather foreigners living in Canada and pretending they're still in their home countries.
I'm totally off on a tangent.... it's just that I face this everyday at work. It's getting to me.
As for the actual topic of this thread.... well, I don't like the oppressed feeling I get around Christmas where anyone who celebrates Christmas is afraid to wish people a Merry Christmas. It's not like it's a secret or anything. It's just so hush-hush. Like the video, it's always "Happy Holidays" and all that. It's got no substance.
I think we all need to stop being affraid of offending people and be who we are and celebrate who we are.
Cheers,
David
P.S. Thanks for listening, I had to vent. Thank goodness for this Off-topic section...
