Or, do you even care? Personally, I don't. It is a greeting, nothing more, nothing less. It's like saying "How are you?" passing in the hallway. You don't expect the person to answer with anything worse than a "fine." You are definitely not looking for the person's life history. It can't really be that hard to recognize situations where "Merry Christmas" is totally appropriate. A few visual clues might be the bright red and green clothing, the cross necklace, the sweatshirt with Santa on it, or a nativity, etc. Obviously Christian, or at least someone who enjoys and celebrates Christmas for its many secular reasons. On the flip side, there are some obvious non-Christians where a "Happy Holidays" or a simple "Hello" would suffice.
If you truly are offended about "Happy Holidays," then do the rest of us a favor and wear a button that says "I say Merry Christmas!" so the rest of us know. Otherwise, you get what you get. Although I'll be more likely to wish you a Merry Winter Solstice instead.
I'm with you (of course). When I worked retail, I would say Happy Holidays and I got several "It's Merry Christmas" comments back. Some nice, some nasty. Seriously, find something else to bitch about that matters more, people, and let the rest of us try to be sympathetic to others' beliefs. Crazy as they are. :-)
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