I had a short discussion with a coworker about his belief (disclosure: he attends Liberty) that there is indeed a war on Christmas. It went something like this

Me: So wait, you think there’s an actual war on Christmas?
Him: Well, I mean, if you look at the retailers who aren’t saying “Merry Christmas” anymore and people fighting nativity scenes on public property…
Me: As is their right to do. But a war really?
Him: Well, you have to look
Me: A WAR, though?

And that retort of mine handled most of his objections to my satisfaction, anyway.

Also, recently I unfriended (defriended?) someone on Facebook for this very reason. It might be easier to lay it out here, and some have called what I did an over-reaction (I disagree), but here’s how it went. The person used their status update to tell people to “remember, Christ is the reason for the season, so wish people a Merry ‘Christ’mas.” This followed with several people agreeing, with one remarking how silly it was that people of other religions could get offended.

I’ll admit in that case, maybe I did fan the flames, but there are a few things I don’t get about the ‘war’ on Christmas.

1. Nobody is trying to remove your right to celebrate Christmas as you choose. Want a Christmas tree (note: I haven’t seen them called Holiday trees)? Go ahead. Want to trade gifts on December 25? That is your right.
2. We’re not gonna change the name of the holiday to “Holiday.” Try as we might, on calendars everywhere it will still be marked “Christmas” on December 25.
3. The GOSH DARN FEDERAL GOVERNMENT made it a national holiday on June 28, 1870.

Not everyone in America is a Christian. Sorry. And we who are not probably aren’t going to start any time soon. The United States government serves people of many faiths: Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Atheistm, Agnosticism, Hinduism and even Scientology (yes, it’s a religion — believing in such things is harmless).

We of non-Christian faiths already endorse a government that recognizes you over us, so why should we accept retailers (whose will we can control with our spending dollars) do the same? A catch-all phrase like “Happy Holidays” INCLUDES YOU. Why should retailers only acknowledge their Christian customers around this time of year?

The inspiration for this post came largely from the front page of the News & Advance today (in addition to the comments — always a hoot) and this post from WhoIsIOZ (which includes some wonderful graphics on how the war is expected to go).

I figured what the heck, right? It’s only a few dollars more and maybe I’ll get some use out of them some really sunny day. I put them on the lenses and didn’t think about them.

That was until about 2 weeks ago. I wanted to shoot at 100 ISO outside, because it’s just too much fun to see my photos with almost no noise in them. I affixed the UV lens and went out to shoot in the generally sunny day. In affecting how much light entered the camera, the UV lens has to be turned, so I did so, and for comparison, I took one at the least-powerful setting. Check out the result, though. These photos were both shot at the same ISO, same f-stop, same shutter speed:

Low filter versus high filter:

When I moved to Lynchburg in June, I used to talk up that I lived in Chicago, because most people were generally interested. It’s new and exciting to meet people not from the next county over.

When I told one old woman I was from Chicago, she smiled and asked if I had voted for Barack Obama. When I told her that I had, she smiled harder. This woman told me then that she was finally proud of the vote she had cast in November for Obama. “I think he’s finally going to change something.”

But that woman and people like her are few and far between, so when I find them, it makes me all warm inside.

A woman came up to me at about 8:30pm tonight (Monday), and demanded to speak to a manager. It’s common for customers to ask, so I paged the manager on duty to the front of the store. While she waited, I turned away from my conversation with a co-worker and asked, “Is there anything I can help you with?” “No. I need to talk to a manager.”

When the manager arrived, the woman huffed, “I need to speak to you outside.”

“Uh, ma’am,” the manager replied, “I’m the only manager on duty, and we’re not really supposed to leave the store if we’re the only ones here.” This woman was not having it, and demanded that he come outside. There was quite a bit of commotion, but I couldn’t make out what was being said.

Another woman, already in the store, had started to give her view to the manager as well. “Oh,” said my coworker, “they’re talking about my car.”

Indeed, they were. That’s the “Don’t Tread on Me” sticker and a bumper sticker for Liberty University. (On an unrelated note, what does LFFL mean?)

The other woman had come back in to the store briefly, and I heard the first woman yell, “If that’s an employee’s, I’m going to take my business elsewhere.” She continued to chew the manager’s ear while I turned my attention back to the coworker. The manager was trying his best to calm the obviously irate woman down.

Not being the kind of person who steps down on political issues, my coworker yells, “Well I guess they’re the kind of people who are okay with living in a totalitarian society.”

“Dude,” I mutter to him, “don’t polarize at work. It can’t end well.”

The second woman rushed back to the front door shouting, “I now know whose that is, it’s an employee.” Both women left, and didn’t spend a dime. They probably went to CVS across the street, where politics won’t be shoved down their throat.

The manager took the coworker aside and I don’t know what they talked about, but it probably wasn’t good. Apparently that manager called several other managers to ask about specific company policy. Nobody knew it, but I intend to track it down. I’ll keep you posted.

This coworker then came up to me and stated that it was his belief that if they (Walgreens) forces him to remove it, he will get the Liberty Council to sue the company.

I tried, in vein, to explain to him that his First Amendment rights do not apply in this case, as he was AT WORK and, contrary to popular belief, Walgreens is NOT the federal government. What is it about conservatives and misinterpreting the first amendment? (Sorry, but it’s sometimes too easy to pick on Sarah Palin.)

If, then, he explained, it is to come that on Walgreens property he is not allowed to display his political beliefs (which, by his own admission was just to piss people off), he will fight to remove:

1. A coworkers “Darwin” fish (which he claims was just there to piss him off)
2. Another coworker’s COEXIST bumper sticker (which he says he fundamentally disagrees with)
3. Another coworkers Confederate flag window cling (for which he had no ill comment)

(images pulled via a google images search, exact urls coming)
The most polarizing I am at work is a button I wear that says “Save the Internet.” But what do I know? I’m just a liberal.

I like that I get a paycheck every two weeks because I go and do the best that I can.

When I go to work, I try to keep the politics to a minimum. I have discussions on and off with other photo techs and some of the managers, but I’m VERY careful to keep my mouth shut around customers. In God’s town, you’re red, or you’re a commie.

Working in a drug store, the customers talk about this health care reform bill a lot. I went back to the pharmacy, and heard a woman complain about the huge price she was paying for her prescription drugs, “but I still don’t support this whole health care bill.”

I bit my tongue. Didn’t say a word to her. I could have used that opportunity to be an informed citizen and asked her why she opposed this bill if it would force the insurance companies to lower their costs. But I didn’t. Because like my job.

Then, there was today.

But first, some back story: Walgreens is “promising” flu shots for anyone who comes in from 10am to 4pm, and they plug that it’s covered by Medicare part B, and may be covered by your insurance.

Well, to promote it, we’re offering the employee discount on purchases (15%) to anyone who gets the shot.

A woman in clearly poor health came up to my counter, buying Ramen noodles, some laxative and Altoids. She got excited when she saw the 15% coupon, and asked how she could get the discount. When I explained, she sighed the biggest sigh I’ve ever heard. “I don’t have insurance…” she sadly mumbled as she opened her wallet to pay full price.

Right there. I knew I could have converted her and her close circle of friends to support at least the public option. But I didn’t say a word. I bit my tongue. Because I like my job.

:-/

“Uh… Thirteen… times…,” as I fussed with the calculator, “$5.07, not including sales tax.” That’s something I always say, just because I’m too lazy to figure out 5% of non-food and 2% of food and add it to the total.

“Ah,” the old man smiled, “that’s the Obama tax.”

Quick on my feet, I defended, “Actually, that’s the Virginia state tax. Been that way for years.” I smiled in hopes that he was joking. He didn’t smile back.

“Pretty soon, there’ll be an Obama tax,” he warned.

Then it struck me– this guy actually believed that Obama could get away with a huge increase in state sales taxes. At this point I imagined Obama in the White House, picking random states and numbers, laughing evilly the whole time.

“A ha ha ha, 10 percent Obama tax for Oklahoma. 1 percent Obama tax for Ohio.”

The concept of an Obama tax is frighteningly hilarious and hilariously frightening.

In this town, I think it’s safe to be a conservative and maybe a conserva-Dem. I want to be neither.