You have to respect the proficiency and determination of a lefty to get one last whine in before 2018 limps to its end and the new year dawns with all it’s fresh possibilities for new grievances. Julia Ioffe, a correspondent for GQ, is one such intrepid complainer. It seems some people have had the effrontery to wish her a Merry Christmas.
On Dec. 20, she took to Twitter to complain, and was predictably pummeled for it. Undeterred, Ioffe sought the aid of The Washington Post (Motto: Democracy Gets Queasy on Long Car-Rides) where no gripe goes unremarked and no thought is too petty to go unpublished. So on Dec. 21, her plea appeared in the PostEverything section, fleshed out in heart-wrenching detail.
Ioffe recounted the sudden ambush by her Lyft driver as she exited his vehicle. (“He had a cross hanging from his rearview mirror,” so clearly this was a premeditated attack.) Free from that horror, she was greeted by the sight of her street “decorated with lights and wreaths and nativity scenes.”
Here’s the deal: Ioffe is Jewish, and she finds it “lonely to be reminded a thousand times every winter that the dominant American cultural event occurs without me.” Still, she wrote, “I don’t share your faith, but I don’t begrudge you the joy of your celebration. In fact, I often participate” with friends. “There’s no problem here: We know, respect and celebrate each other’s differences.”
Great. So we’re agreed. Peace on Earth.
Not so fast.
… despite its celebration of a Christian god, it is everywhere, for over a month, in a way no other holiday is — not even Easter. It is in every ad, in every window and doorway, and on everyone’s lips. If you’re not a part of the festivities, even its sparkling aesthetic can wear you down.
Yeah, the season can do that to Christians too. She went on to recount getting burned on Twitter where people accused “me of being angry, whiny, impolite, self-centered, ungrateful, sad and, in general, a bad person.” Yeah, Twitter can do that to you.
So what’s the point? How is she going to stop people from being nice to her in a way that she finds “off-putting?”
… my wish, this holiday season, is for people not to make assumptions about others, to put themselves in others’ shoes, to respect others as they wish to be respected, to respond with kindness even when they disagree, to live and let live.
So, in a nutshell: censor yourselves. Check your Christian privilege. Treat a simple holiday greeting as the dangerous weapon it is. All the drivel about respect and kindess and “live and let live?” Window dressing. You are to interact with Ioffe as she demands. Now enjoy your winter holidays.
