It seems like only last week that I took the reindeer downstairs. I glanced at them the other day as I was doing laundry and realized I’d be bringing them up pretty soon to replace the scarecrow that’s been taking up residence in my front garden all Fall.
The Christmas season has always held fond memories for me. For as long as I can remember, it was filled with family, presents, aromatic cakes, flavourful Trinidadian holiday fare and of course, Christmas lights. Since I have been living in Canada – over 36 years now, I’ve watched this tradition change and evolve from one filled with cheerful greetings to polite, almost apologetic nods of acknowledgement. I can’t really call myself a newcomer anymore, but I am still a visible minority and I personally get a little annoyed when the proverbial question rolls around every year, usually in a quiet whisper, “do you celebrate Christmas?” I recognize the question is always posed by someone who’s trying to be sensitive to my own cultural background but what I really want to say is, “Even if I didn’t, it’s still Christmas, and I’m Canadian so I don’t mind if you share this greeting with me.” I’ll take the risk of sounding preachy and say that the point of living in a multicultural society is to share and embrace the differences. If we can’t say Merry Christmas, then we shouldn’t say Happy Diwali, or Eid Mubarak. We should just coin a politically correct blanket statement that works for all and ignore the beauty of the cultural mosaic we are fortunate enough to be part of. But perhaps I’m a bit biased since I’ve been lucky. I come from a background of people who’ve lived in a multicultural society for generations. Trinidad, while still a third world country with its own socio-economic issues, has always been ahead when it comes to melting pots of the world. Plus I grew up in Rexdale. Most of my classmates were newcomers. As kids usually do, we shared our own cultures and incorporated Canadian traditions into our own. As a result, today many of these same schoolmates have children who are a product of this multiculturalism. As a communicator, I’m often in the middle of this semi-controversy. To say or not to say the two words that may offend is often thrown into our laps. In many cases, we wait the decision of the powers-that-be to agree to a key statement that fits all and then we execute this statement publicly. Damage control is often considered when coining such a phrase. So, as the principal of my own company, I’ll make that executive decision and wish all my clients, friends, colleagues and of course family, a very Merry Christmas.
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