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.