Page 31 - South Mississippi Living - December, 2018
P. 31

at Christmas?
we were raised. can be sure I celebrate the holiday just like everyone Since my friends here weren’t raised around another else. I shop for the perfect gifts, I attend Christmas
religion, they don’t understand — or just simply don’t know — that people have different beliefs. And believe it or not, that’s okay. So Miss Ruby and I talked. She was Pentecostal and I was fascinated about that. She talked of people being “saved” and getting dunked in water. And I told her about Bar Mitzvahs and keeping Kosher. And by the end of the short flight, we had become friends and had broadened our worlds a little.
On my second
flight from
Atlanta to
Baltimore, I sat
next to a nice
older gentleman
named Doug.
Guess what he
asked? Yup... What
church did I attend?
(Seriously, I can’t
make this stuff up). So
I resigned myself that the
Southern Living and People
magazines I had brought with
me would remain unread in my carry-on and answered, “I’m Jewish”” To which he replied — say it with me — “You don’t look Jewish.” Sigh. You get the picture.
I had to make quite a few adjustments when I moved South. There were,
of course, many differences
between a large city and a
small Southern town. But these
are never more apparent than around the holiday season. Gone were the dual displays in the stores. The blue and white next to the green and red. I gave up looking for Chanukah cards or wrapping paper.
However, I’ve adapted to my new world. Although I don’t celebrate the religious part of Christmas, you
parties and eat way too much good food. In fact, the first couple of years after I moved here, you’d find me front and center enjoying the First Baptist Church’s singing Christmas tree. (I wish they still had it!)
Just like anything in the South, we’re not shy about offering our opinions. And so it’s about how we greet each other during the holiday season. Some people actually get upset when someone greets them with “Happy Holidays.” People
get offended by this? Really? I certainly don’t get offended
if you wish me a Merry Christmas. I will probably
say it back. Or I may say Happy
Holidays. Either way, it’s just not that
big a deal. How can you get upset about a greeting?
It seems to me there are more important things to worry about.
So as we enter this fanatical season of shopping and eating, I am reminded about
how grateful I am for the wonderful world in which I was raised, and for the
opportunity to experience an entirely new one. My world has grown and I am a better
person for it.
And although I’m sure Miss Ruby was disappointed
she couldn’t “save” me on that short flight to Atlanta, what she probably doesn’t realize is that she, along with many others, did just that. And she may never know because, evidently, I don’t look it.
Happy Holidays
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