| Wednesday, December 22, 2004 |
02:40 - Nobody's right when everybody's wrong
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Just for the record, I wanted to note something about this guy who took issue with various people's noticing that for some reason or other, you can walk through an entire mall this Shopping Season and not see any mention of the big dread C-word. He says:
This thin-skinned grievance-collecting gives birth to all sorts of urban legends and rumors about big institutions being hostile to Christ's birthday, such as the one that swirled on WOR radio last week about how Macy's employees had been instructed not to say "Merry Christmas!" to shoppers. A fiction that was put to rest when the host hit Macy's website and saw its "Merry Christmas" greeting, and Macy's employees chimed in over the phones to say there was no such policy.
Well, if that's true, then Macy's has changed its mind. When I posted about it two weeks ago, it was right after hearing a top-of-the-hour news report on KCBS in which Macy's cutting its traditional greeting from its trade dress was the central thesis. "Macy's, long-time host of the big Christmas parade, has decided it's going to be the Grinch that steals Christmas this year!" the anchorwoman burbled. This wasn't some unsourced rumor or misunderstanding on my part; the news story was all about Macy's decision. It's not as though CBS has ever been known to get a story wrong or anything, of course... but this one even featured a lengthy sound bite from the Macy's PR spokeswoman saying something to the effect of: "We don't intend to take away from the spirit of the season in any way; we just feel that saying ''Happy Holidays' or 'Season's Greetings' is a much better way to celebrate the holidays in an all-inclusive way."
If Macy's has changed its position in the time since 12/8, that's fine—but it doesn't make Mr. Wolcott "right" or the rest of us "wrong". I heard them report what they reported. Also, I don't see the word "Christmas" on Macy's website, except after the word after and before the word prices; maybe they've changed that too, after changing it once already in concert with the original KCBS-reported decision. I don't know. All I know is that this Woolcott guy has either failed to do his homework and gone all pompous on "Lilek's" ass anyway, or we're all the victims of a very elaborate and cruel practical joke by Macy's and the WOR/KCBS Axis of Prankdom. I hope it's needless to say which I find more plausible.
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Brian Tiemann
