a Different Christmas story
As some of you-hopefully most of you, may know I I write stories and political comments.This story fits in with one of the bigger controversies of the last few years. Enjoy:
Bill activated his cabin’s door allowing Dora to come in. She had just interrupted him by asking though the door’s intercom if she could come in for a moment. He should have turned it off signifying that he didn’t want any company.
He rolled his chair back to his desk and started working on his computer again. She came in and the door closed. She started speaking about a certain project him, her and few others were working on together. It was an after hours project that the Freighter-liner company they worked for encouraged its employees to do. It would provide them with overtime and if it worked as it should it would be a good mark on their files.
He was listening with one ear however since he was trying to finish a private project. He suddenly raised his head knowing she had just said something different in a different tone of voice. He had not caught what she had said.
She repeated herself in a louder voice, “I said, What is that?”
He somewhat confused said, “It is a special computer game I am working on.”
She said, “Not that! I mean that in your corner?”
He turned to look at what she was pointing at. She was pointing an accusing finger at an object in the opposite corner from the entertaining-work desk. The object was four feet three inches tall and was two and a half feet wide at its widest. That widest part was about one fourth of the way up from the bottom. The wide part looked like a skirt and was made up of branches that came out from the center pole. All of the branches, from the skirt to the top were green, while the center pole was brown. Below the bottom of the skirt one could see the skinny pole that made up the center. The skirt narrowed as it went up until very near the top it was one and a half feet wide. From that point it sloped inward finally forming a thick needle three inches long. He had decorated it with two multicolored light cables and various round globe looking items as well as what looked like upside down Js painted alternately red and white.
He turned back to his work and off handily said, “That is my Christmas tree. I had Jorge in engineering, fix it up for me. Its not as nice looking as a real one, but its not that bad. You must have seen some before.”
She said, “Yes I have seen Christmas trees, but I never expected to see one here. If someone who is of another religion pr an atheist sees that they might be offended. This is a public place with people from diverse backgrounds.”
He turned to her and said, “Huh? What are talking about?”
She said, “This is a place of diversity. You know people from many diverse back grounds work here and are passengers on this ship. They could very well be offended that you are displaying items from for a religious observance from one religion.”
He blinked and looked confused and said, “Christmas is still the largest event on the earth and most colonies, and even a couple of space habitats celebrate it to some degree or another. People would know what holiday that tree represents.”
She said, "Yes, but some people will be offended so you should take it down. This is a public place as I said. If you don’t I will place a complaint. Then they will force you to take it down.”
He somewhat angrily replied, “Hey. This is not a public hallway. People have to be allowed though that door to come in here. Now if this was out in the passageway, that would be different. Even though this would still be about Christmas a harmless celebration that even many non-Christians celebrate. You can place a complaint if you want to, but they will most probably not be able to do any thing about even if they wanted to. Time after time, the courts have declared that these living cabins are not public ground. They are the same as a private house, or even an apartment. So that means that I can do most anything in here in the way of decorations and celebrations. If someone is that offended they do not have to come in here. They are the ones that should be put out not me. Besides if they are that offended they should go to a sensitivity training seminar so they can learn not to be offended by the expression of someone’s private beliefs”
She said, “That may be so, but you should still not offend someone of a minority religion. If you do not take that down I will boycott this cabin until you do.”
He again said, “Huh?”
She answered by saying, “I’ll leave and not enter this room as long as you have that thing up”
He looked at her for a while then suddenly turned and started typing again.
He said, “If that is what you feel, you must do what you feel like is right,”
After a moment he reached over and pressed the door button then continued, “The door is activated. You can leave and we can discuss our project though the door, or at your room. Christmas is a diverse celebration, it is made up of traditions from various cultures and people of many backgrounds celebrate it. Perhaps you should go a sensitivity training seminar. I can get you in one over the intergalactic net. And any stores that reject the term Merry Christmas is biting the hand that feeds them. More money is spent at Christmas time for Christmas presents and decorations then any other time of the year. People buy Christmas presents not Holiday presents.
“One last statement, only a small handful or people do not celebrate some form of Christmas, of those it’s only a small share that would be offended...more people are offended by you not doing it for that reason.”
She said something that sounded like hmmfff and started toward the door.
He said as she did, “Or we could go too your cabin and look at the rainbow symbols you have on display but don’t forget they are a Christian symbol also.”
She went out the door and he went back to work on the new computer game he was fine tuning.
He said to himself, “And that tree isn’t even a real one. Maybe I should have called it a Holiday tree but it isn’t, there’s no such thing as a holiday tree...with a shake of his head he continued that thought, boy what some people will choose to be offended over. ”
The end
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