Thursday 19 December 2013

Goodwill to all: charity volunteer assaulted over Christmas greeting

Christmas-Charity-Collection_thumb2
From Las Vegas CBS Central 17/12/13:

A Salvation Army bell ringer claims she was assaulted by a woman for saying “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas” outside of a Walmart.

Kristina Vindiola was ringing a bell outside of a Phoenix-area Walmart when she said “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas” to a woman.

“The lady looked at me,” Vindiola explained to KNXV. “I thought she was going to put money in the kettle. She came up to me and said, ‘Do you believe in God?’ And she says, ‘You’re supposed to say Merry Christmas,’ and that’s when she hit me.”

What the woman did next caught Vindiola by surprise. She told KNXV that the woman hit her in the arm and proceeded to go inside the store to shop. Vindiola told a manager who called the police.

The surveillance video didn’t have enough evidence for Phoenix police to arrest the woman accused in the assault. However, Vindiola said she plans to take legal action.

As a non-American, I’ve always found the expression ‘Happy Holidays’ to be a little odd.  But, come on: punching someone because they used that phrase is a touch OTT – even in America.  

Why is it the original values behind celebrating Christmas seem to grow scarcer (and more alien to the modern world) as each year passes?

No comments:

Post a Comment