So trivial, yet it really ticks you off.

[Stearmen]

Another good way to annoy the neighbours is to party until the early hours.

You obviously didn't look at the photos! We are The Mild Bunch!

 

[GHT]

Stearmen, I was just being facetious, in a jocular way. When you live in a big city, you learn that living cheek by jowl means tolerating late night parties, revellers leaving in the early hours, and of course, they can't resist:

You get used to domestic rows floating in through an open window. Teenage kids being hollered at: "What time do you call this?" The wife swapping shenanigans. Life in London was never dull, so your biker crowd would have been a wonderful, and colourful, diversion. We live in The New Forest now, the quiet takes some getting used to, although this has been our second home for a good number of years, all the same, it's eerie and quiet at night.

 

[scottyrocks]

I'll take eerie and quiet any day (and especially night).

 

[LizzieMaine]

I used to be awakened every summer morning by the stink of cigar smoke coming in the open window from my neighbor across the street. He'd be sitting out on his front doorstep smoking Swisher Sweets and muttering to himself "I'm gonna kill him, I'm gonna kill him." Good old small town values.

 

[sheeplady]

I used to be awakened every summer morning by the stink of cigar smoke coming in the open window from my neighbor across the street. He'd be sitting out on his front doorstep smoking Swisher Sweets and muttering to himself "I'm gonna kill him, I'm gonna kill him." Good old small town values.

Was he ever successful?

 

[LizzieMaine]

He disappeared one day, so one has to assume one way or another....

 

[Trenchfriend]

Aaah, like the heavy smelling Brasil-tobacco!

 

[rocketeer]

Wishing 'Happy Holidays' because the wisher is afraid of offending someone who does not celebrate.
Why? Because Christmas is really about Jesus being born, even if you say you are not religious there would be no present giving or Christmas trees if it was not for the Victorian era middle class church goers.
I know someone is going to shout out about the winter solstice but it really is about Jesus. No Jesus=no Christmas
Oh yes, I am not really religious, and to be honest, other than a malicious Merry Christmas to a known Jehovah, is there anyone reading this who would think it an insult to be wished a Merry Christmas by a stranger, whatever their religion?

 

[GHT]

Hallelujah to that my friend. And peace be with you:

 

[Yesteryear]

Wishing 'Happy Holidays' because the wisher is afraid of offending someone who does not celebrate.
Why? Because Christmas is really about Jesus being born, even if you say you are not religious there would be no present giving or Christmas trees if it was not for the Victorian era middle class church goers.
I know someone is going to shout out about the winter solstice but it really is about Jesus. No Jesus=no Christmas
Oh yes, I am not really religious, and to be honest, other than a malicious Merry Christmas to a known Jehovah, is there anyone reading this who would think it an insult to be wished a Merry Christmas by a stranger, whatever their religion?

Being wished "Merry Christmas" doesn't offend me, but I also don't mind the "Happy Holidays" people who recognize that not everyone they greet celebrate Christmas, like the Jehovah's Witness example you mentioned.

 

[sheeplady]

Wishing 'Happy Holidays' because the wisher is afraid of offending someone who does not celebrate.
Why? Because Christmas is really about Jesus being born, even if you say you are not religious there would be no present giving or Christmas trees if it was not for the Victorian era middle class church goers.
I know someone is going to shout out about the winter solstice but it really is about Jesus. No Jesus=no Christmas
Oh yes, I am not really religious, and to be honest, other than a malicious Merry Christmas to a known Jehovah, is there anyone reading this who would think it an insult to be wished a Merry Christmas by a stranger, whatever their religion?

I don't say "happy holidays" because I am afraid of offending someone, but because I mean to wish them a happy new year, new years eve, Christmas, vacation, etc.

I do get annoyed at people who correct me, or make a decided point of returning my "happy holidays with "merry Christmas." I know a person who makes it a point to correct clerks, "oh, you mean merry christmas" and thanks people, "thank god you're not part of this PC culture" if they say "merry christmas." It's odd, and really off putting.

What sort of person corrects what someone wishes you?

 

[LizzieMaine]

I wished someone "Sweet Saturnalia" the other day, but they think like I do.

 

[LizzieMaine]

By the way, Seasons Greetings and Happy Holidays were very, very popular in the Era, especially with the Boys. The secularization of Christmas was very much a Golden Era thing.

 

[kaiser]

I wished someone "Sweet Saturnalia" the other day, but they think like I do.

Hi Lizze, ya gotta help me on that one !?

 

[LizzieMaine]

Saturnalia was the Roman winter solstice holiday, celebrated with feasting and gift-giving and general merriment. It was co-opted by the early Church around the fourth century AD and turned into Christmas. An early effort by the Holy Fathers From Marketing, if you will.

 

[ChiTownScion]

And remember...

 

[Zombie_61]

I don't say "happy holidays" because I am afraid of offending someone, but because I mean to wish them a happy new year, new years eve, Christmas, vacation, etc....

I do it for the same reason. When I encounter someone I've never met before I have no idea what their Theologies are, so saying "Happy holidays" just encompasses it all.

...I do get annoyed at people who correct me, or make a decided point of returning my "happy holidays with "merry Christmas." I know a person who makes it a point to correct clerks, "oh, you mean merry christmas" and thanks people, "thank god you're not part of this PC culture" if they say "merry christmas." It's odd, and really off putting.

What sort of person corrects what someone wishes you?

In my experience it's usually someone who has an agenda they want to force onto others, and if you dig deeper you'll find the "Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays" issue is just the tip of the iceberg.

Also, except for it being a marketing ploy, why is it "Merry Christmas"? For every other holiday or event we use the word "happy"--Happy New Year, Happy Easter, Happy Fourth of July, Happy Birthday, Happy Anniversary, and so on. Merry Christmas? Rubbish. When I do use the term, and that's infrequently, I say "Happy Christmas" just to see the confused looks on peoples' faces.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Yo, dude, cool yule baby.

I used to work with a guy in radio who went on the air and wished all our Jewish listeners a "Happy Yom Kipper."

 

[rocketeer]

And so to bed. It's midnight, so I will make a point of no computer stuff for Christmas Day. Wishing everybody here and anywhere really, a happy and peaceful day. Goodnight.
Johnny T

 

[HoosierDaddy]

And so to bed. It's midnight, so I will make a point of no computer stuff for Christmas Day. Wishing everybody here and anywhere really, a happy and peaceful day. Goodnight.
Johnny T

Merry Christmas..!!