Now, I will be the first to tell you that sometimes, P.C. goes just a tad too far. When we are having full national campaigns to eradicate a word...Let me just say, sometimes its just silly.
But this post isn't about being politically correct. I experienced something this morning that was exclusion-ism at it's finest. And, it was merely from an email. An email sent out with good intentions to all our residents and vendors which simply said, "From all of us at 1st Lake Properties, Happy Holidays." Here is the reply I received from a resident below:
1st Lake,
Thank you for your well wishes this Christmas Season. I certainly appreciate the sentiment. However, I am quite offended that you have chosen to refrain from the customary phrase "Merry Christmas." It seems that you have chosen to attempt to not offend a small group of people while severely offending the vast majority of Americans (see the latest Rasmussen Report that states that 70% prefer "Merry Christmas"). I sincerely hope that in the future, 1st Lake will again choose to honor the majority of Americans by also celebrating one of our national holidays and saying "Merry Christmas." Again, I do want to say thank you for the well wishes and I hope all of you have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
I am not sure this resident realizes he is just fighting to exclude all other religions just to see his own preference in a simple email. And as a customer service representative, I did not want to reply. I thought, "Just leave it alone. Sometimes people are just like that."
I tried to move on to my work. But I just couldn't stop thinking about this email. This resident who thinks we are just playing it safe or trying to be sneaky in order to increase our customer base. Why else would he send us some report regarding what the majority wants?
Why on Earth would this person be offended? Which word in the aforementioned statement would be of offense. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get this resident out of my head, I had to respond:
Dear John-
Thank you for your well wishes also. However, please note we do not “choose” to refrain from the customary phrase you mention below out of company policy with regards to the holiday season, but rather it is our company policy to be fully compliant with all Fair Housing laws and guidelines.
The Federal Fair Housing Act of 1968 and the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988, prohibits discrimination against any person because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin in the sale, rental, leasing financing and advertising or housing.
Considering “Christmas” is a Christian holiday, “Chanukah” is a Jewish Holiday, and “Yule” is a Wiccan (recognized by our Federal Government as a religion) Holiday, as per Fair Housing Guidelines not to “advertise or make any statement that indicates a limitation or preference based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or handicap,” we wish everyone “Happy Holidays.” You can read more about Fair Housing Laws and Guidelines here: http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/fair_housing_equal_opp/FHLaws/yourrights.
Again, it is not our intention to offend but to include everyone. Thank you.
What is the point? I'm not even sure I had a concise point to this post. How about this:
The customer is not always right.
Ignorant customers should be educated.
Teach a customer to Google, educate him for lifetime
HAPPY H-O-L-I-D-A-Y-S!
REVISED -
I would like to take this opportunity to state clearly that I understand Fair Housing Laws do not specifically state the use of phrases such as "Merry Christmas", does not constitute a violation of the Fair Housing Act.
The statements made in this blog are solely from the point of view of the author and do not necessarily represent the view of a large section of the population, 1st Lake Properties, or any other human being on this planet.
Thank you. :)