'A Bucket of Cold Water' 

Editor:

I was shopping for See's candy last week at a local store. I made my selections, paid and the woman wished me Merry Christmas. "I like saying, 'Happy Holidays,'" I responded. "It's more inclusive. My best friend is Jewish."

"I guess we'll go our separate ways," she said. "I'll stick with 'Merry Christmas' and you can stick with 'Happy Holidays.' I'm kind of a traditionalist." I felt like I had been hit with a bucket of cold water. What if I were Jewish or Muslim?

Is there something traditional about not recognizing the diversity of people here? Well, maybe so. The world I grew up in 60 years ago was all white (or pretended to be), all protestant, all heterosexual. That world was run by rich white men.

Do we want to live in a world in which we honor our diversity and all religions, races, ethnicities and sexual orientations? Or do we want to live in a world run by rich hetero white men — and everyone else is not OK?

Let's think about what our words truly mean.

Wanda Naylor, Eureka