I've worked here for 8 years and not once have I received a "Merry Christmas!" email. All company messaging around Christmas is watered down to "Happy Holidays" so as not to offend everyone.
I'm not a Christian fwiw but this pisses me off.
I quickly typed a response that said, "Thank you, and I look forward to receiving a Merry Christmas email later this year!", but at least for now I haven't sent it.
I'm just sick and fucking tired of everything Christian being erased from society, while non-Christian holidays are promoted and celebrated by name.
Send the email response or nah?
Might be a good idea to wait until they don't send a Merry Christmas email. (which I know they won't.)
And fwiw, our company is roughly 70% Indian, including the CEO and founding partner.
That's something that really really needs to be in the OP.
Think about how the typical reader here will take it. They see a thread about a guy complaining/worrying about a majority white (since the West is still majority white) corporate sending out a Happy Diwali email and--since we're in the West--they're going to think it's something coming from wokeists (which are majority white women) or normies who see which way the cultural winds appear to be blowing in HR and/or corporate and send something out so as to not appear uninclusive.
The mention of "Oh by the way the company is 70% Indian including the CEO and founding partner" completely changes things
Edit:
And, I just read your comment about what the ceo said about Merry Christmas letters, again, really should've been in the OP if you wanted people to fully get what you are trying to convey. That said, I probably wouldn't send the email, especially this far out. It sounds like it'd come off as passive-aggressive, not to mention that passive-aggression would only be accentuated by sending it when November only just started. Personally, I wouldn't send it at all. But I'd definitely keep a record of their email; maybe it'd be handy if for whatever reason saying "Merry Christmas" to coworkers leads to some sort of retaliation later on. Not sure how useful it'd be but keeping records of everything is always a good practice for a rainy day in my opinion.
Me personally..I'd say about a 40%-50% chance I say Merry Christmas to coworkers when it's finally apropo. Agreed that the erasure of the holiday is sad to see unfolding. I'm fortunate to live in the Bible Belt so "Merry Christmas!" is still alive and thriving.
I 100% agree that:
...and...
Should be in the original post. They both add a lot of much-needed context.
Honestly, given this context, I don't think it's a big deal and I would just let it go.
Yes I should have included those details in my OP, but I hastily wrote it from my phone between meetings.
One other relevant detail is that I bought some "Merry Christmas" wine bags to use for wine gifts to a few client contacts that I'm close with. I know they celebrate Christmas, but my boss still insisted that I not use the Merry Christmas bags. I had to order new bags that said Happy Holidays.
If you have access to the company directory, why not send out the Merry Christmas e-mail yourself?
So what the fuck are you complaining about? Let people celebrate their holiday, and when Christmas comes, you can wish them a merry Christmas too.
I reported directly to the CEO for six years so I've talked to him about the Christmas thing.
He specifically set the tone that we are not to send cards to clients that say Merry Christmas, they have to say Happy Holidays. He said the reason is to not offend anyone. All internal communication is supposed to avoid using the phrase Merry Christmas.
So to answer your question, I don't give a fuck about them celebrating Diwali or any other thing they want to celebrate. I just don't like how he's made a point to avoid wishing others Merry Christmas, yet he supports it in this case when it's Diwali.
Makes sense. Sounds less like he's the one offended by it, and more that he's trying to cater to the most mentally ill people in society. Still bad, though.
How can you stand the smell....
The only smell issues are that a few guys wear WAY too much cologne.
We had an office that was on the second floor of a building, way in the back so you had to walk pretty far to get there from the entrance. But this one guy drenched himself with so much cologne they as soon as you opened the front door of the building (on the first floor), the scent hit you like a ton of bricks.
We had to speak with him about it because there were complaints.
But now I work remotely so that isn't an issue, thankfully.
Yet another example of how racist the woke are
If I moved to a Muslim country and complained about Islamic holiday celebrations I would be told to shut up. I’m a Christian but I’ve known atheists who celebrate it from a secular standpoint and other non Christians who say unless I’m being forced to celebrate, I don’t care what people say.
Maybe some people go overboard with the war on Christmas stuff but the fear people have in acknowledging a holiday celebrated by most is ridiculous
If you are lucky.
That’s true. Or I would be shut up permanently. I could swear I remember a saying “when I’m done do as romans do” so if you came to live in a new country it was your job to assimilate
You'd be jailed or simply killed.
It depends: do you need the job? Are you indispensable at your position? Not to say they'll fire you for sending it, but unless you're extremely hard to replace you might get mentally filed on the "not a team player" list that might come into play the next time layoff season arrives.
I've sent responses like this before, and while it makes you feel good it doesn't really accomplish anything. The best outcome I ever had was:
You'd be better served killing whatever sense of loyalty you may have to your employer and doing exactly what your company's execs do: use company resources to maximize your own personal gain at the expense of the company's well-being.
Is that not just how being employed works?
Everywhere I've ever worked has done their best to get the most work from me while paying me as little as they could, to the point of causing burnout. I just assumed that the whole employment game was based on who could screw the other the hardest without actually triggering a lawsuit.
Are you saying there are jobs that don't work like that?
Companies try to make you work harder out of a sense of loyalty. Which can be appropriate if there is in fact reciprocal loyalty. Rare, but it does happen. However it's usually bullshit, but the bullshit does work on some people.
I'm assuming based on OP being at the same company for 8 years (which is much higher than average) and caring enough about this to post about it that he is more likely than not to be in the "has loyalty" camp. If that's the case he should take this as a sign that the company does not have loyalty to him and act accordingly.
Or he has limited options for alternate employment, in which case upsetting the applecart is plain and simple a bad idea.
Zero chance I get fired for it. We have several acquisitions in the pipeline that I'm managing and trying to replace me right now would be a disaster.
But I'm leaning towards not saying anything, at least not right now. Like you said, it wouldn't really accomplish anything. They won't start wishing people Merry Christmas or anything.
Instead of saying something right now, start documenting things and look for a way to set them up for a lawsuit. Any kind of lawsuit. Then when it's time to leave, sue them on the way out, even if it's over some petty nonsense that has nothing to do with this.
wtf is diwali?
Major holiday celebrated by hindus, some sikhs, buddhists, generally south Asians. It all makes perfect sense if you know anything about the IT field.
Not a big fan of the culture or region or customs but really this is one of the least offensive things about their culture. If you're not of the faith, it's an excuse for colorful festivities and food and stuff. Kinda overrated but just... whatevs. Some hypersocialized status seekers may come at you for cultural appropriation depending on your complexion, however. It's probably a lot safer for you to perform "Irishness" (wearing green) on St. Patty's
It's that Indian holiday where they throw the colors at each other
I never got the mass well-wishing.
If you actually give a shit about both me and the holiday, come on down and say hi in person.
Even if they were to wish everyone a Merry Christmas in an e-mail, it still just rings hollow to me.
Send them a happy Diwali back with a swatsika.
Not worth martyring yourself for a harmless hindu festival. More worth it if they wish you a happy ramadan or eid.
Yes. We are considered "H-1B dependent" based on the percentage of H-1B workers we have. (something like 25%)
Chill. But I get it.
The irony is most people around the world enjoy Christmas and would literally never be offended for wishing anyone "Merry Christmas"
Username doesn't check out.
(nah, I'd like you to send it but it's not my job on the line)
what the fuck is diwali
what the fuck is a diwali
Send a company wide Xmas email on Xmas.
Right now you'll just appear petty
Send it!
What is a Diwali?
It's a festival celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs and a few others.