When You Can’t Say “Merry Christmas”!

Someone just told me that it was inappropriate to say, “Merry Christmas.” I told them that it’s a free country and that I can say what I like and I won’t be dictated to by the politically correct. Of course, it is January 3rd and they did say that it wasn’t the sentiment, but more the fact that it made them think of stores selling hot cross buns on Boxing Day and they felt that I was far too early for 2025 and far too late for 2024. However, I still maintain that I can continue to fight the war against Christmas and don’t have to move the troops over to the war on Australia Day until at least mid-month…

I really miss the days when I was growing up and we were free to say and do whatever we liked… Unless, of course, we wanted to read certain banned books and films… and, of course, we shouldn’t swear or use blasphemy… or badmouth the Royal Family… or do anything before midday on ANZAC day… or shop on a Sunday… or criticise the war effort in Vietnam… or go to a pub after 6pm.

But apart from that we were free to do what we wanted… unless we belonged to certain minority groups where we were forbidden from drinking in the bar. You know, groups such as ladies, who had to go to the ladies lounge.

Yes, some politically correct person will point out that “ladies” aren’t a minority group but others will say that nobody is a lady any more which raises a whole new argument when it comes to gender neutral bathrooms and who gets to use what, if it’s marked “Gents” and “Ladies” in a particular establishment… I mean, if I’m considered neither a gentleman nor a lady, am I allowed to use the gender neutral bathroom or do need just hang on till I get home? Things would be so much simpler if we were just allowed to do what we want without worrying about anyone else… I think that’s fair unless it involves someone doing something I don’t want, in which case I have a right to dictate what they should do.

I used the term “Australia Day” before and I only did so because apparently to use a term like “Invasion Day” is divisive, and the great leader of our times, Peter Dutton, is opposed to anything that is divisive… Like when Woolworths stopped selling Australia Day paraphernalia. He suggested a boycott, and boycotts are different from cancel culture because… well, they just are. Cancel culture is what people on the left do and it’s bad, but boycotts are more masculine and strong because they start with a “boy”. I think that’s the reason but I’m willing to be enlightened. No, suggesting boycotting Woolworths wasn’t divisive, because he thought that everyone should do it and what could be more inclusive than that.

Without sales of all things flag related, people would not be able to demonstrate their love for the Aussie flag because nothing says I value my flag like having a pair of flag thongs so you can stand on it or flag undies so you can keep it close to your heart.

Anyway, Australia Day should be a day when we all join together and celebrate, even if some people feel that they have nothing to celebrate. Yes, I know that some of you will use the day to argue that nomadic people who go from one place to another have no right to call a place their home, but the British have always done that and the fact that they dispossessed the Indigenous people who were settled here shouldn’t be a cause for division. The British have always been a bit nomadic and have found it necessary to wander all over the world spreading their ideas of why everything is better where they came from and the only reason that they didn’t stay there, was the fact that nearly every natural resource they wanted was on someone else’s land. It’s part of their heritage to move settled people from where they live and then argue that they don’t live there because they moved.

Of course when I say “the British”, I’m lumping a whole lot of people together when, in actuality, the United Kingdom is actually a mixture of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, who’ve managed to unite together in a non-divisive way. They’ve even combined their flags to form the Union Jack, so when Peter Dutton says that standing in front of the Aboriginal Flag is divisive, maybe we could get around that by adding the flag to the Union Jack like Britain did…

I mean, it’s just a suggestion. I know it would mean that we have to add a couple more colours to it, and the red, white and blue of the Australian flag and we wouldn’t be able to borrow expressions about the red, white and blue of the flag from both Britain and the USA…

Further reading: Hanging on to Christmas

Dear reader, we need your support

Independent sites like The AIMN provide a platform for public interest journalists. From its humble beginning in January 2013, The AIMN has grown into one of the most trusted and popular independent media organisations.

One of the reasons we have succeeded has been due to the support we receive from our readers through their financial contributions.

With increasing costs to maintain The AIMN, we need this continued support.

Your donation – large or small – to help with the running costs of this site will be greatly appreciated.

You can donate through PayPal or credit card via the button below, or donate via bank transfer: BSB: 062500; A/c no: 10495969