I cannot recall a time when it was normal in the United States for strangers to wish one another “Merry Christmas” in the streets. Neither can anyone my age (40) or younger. “Happy Holidays” has been the default greeting between the months of November and January our whole lives. And we’ve never been bothered by this fact — not one of us, not once.
On the contrary, the pleasantly alliterative “Happy Holidays” has a welcome ring to the millennial ear; if nothing else, it is preferable to the barely perceptible grunts to which we are accustomed.
