Every year about this time I get a message or two in my inbox about this world-shaking controversy. Should we say “Happy Holidays” or “Merry Christmas”? Now, please feel free to do whatever you want, but here’s the way I see it from the perspective of a networker.
It’s always about them.
Until and unless you know otherwise, “Happy Holidays” is the way you should go. Is it “PC”? Yep! Does that make it wrong? Nope.
Of course, in the course of chatting with them, it wouldn’t be unusual to ask if they have any plans for the holidays. Then you are likely to find out what holiday they do celebrate and you can wish happiness, merriness, enlightenment, or whatever is appropriate for the season.
And that’s the ticket here. We are wishing them a happy celebration. It’s not about us or our beliefs. It’s about telling them that we care about them and, further, that we know about them and what’s important in their lives..
And so I say, “Happy Holidays”, “Merry Christmas”, “Happy (belated) Hanukkah”, “Joyous Yule”, “Gladsome Tidings for the Solstice”, “Happy Diwali”, “Happy Kwanzaa”, and “Blessed Festivus” to each and every one of you.
And a Prosperous and Well-Connected New Year, too.
