Merry Christmas?

A week ago I watched 60 Minutes, and they had an interesting segment featuring Oprah. She interviewed a bunch of voters from Michigan, some Trump voters and some non-Trump voters. One of the Trump voters mentioned that she felt safer now that Trump was president and Oprah asked her, "In what way?"

The Trump voter then said, "Well, now I can say Merry Christmas without fear." An interesting statement. I thought about it for a few days, wondering if it really was okay to walk around saying Merry Christmas. So I decided that I would give it a try. I would see if you can walk around Chicago and say Merry Christmas without any repercussions.

First I walked up California Avenue, north into the very ethnic West Rogers Park neighborhood. As I passed the fire station near Granville Avenue, I noticed the firemen had the door open and were wiping down the fire truck.

"Merry Christmas!" I called out to them.

They looked up from their task for just a moment. One of them shook his head and then they continued wiping off the truck. Hmmm.. not very cordial. The closer to Devon Avenue I got, the more people I encountered. One man, wearing all black clothes and a wide brim black hat was walking towards me.
I smiled and said, "Merry Christmas!"

"Debil", was what he said back to me.

Obviously he did not speak English. I continued on and turned up Devon Avenue, where I stopped in a little food store. I grabbed a soda from the cooler and as I walked up to the counter to pay I said, "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas? What drugs you are on?" asked the man in a heavy Middle Eastern accent.

"I just want to wish you a Merry Christmas." I told him.

"Two dollars."

So far nobody seemed very happy to hear me say Merry Christmas, but also nobody told me not to say it. As I walked up Devon, a person wearing a full burka was coming towards me. Once again, in my most pleasant voice, I exclaimed "Merry Christmas!"

Not only was this person not friendly, but the young man accompanying the person under the burka, yelled at me in a foreign language. It was disappointing to find that nobody was in the Christmas spirit. Again and again I would wish people along Devon Avenue a Merry Christmas, and again and again they would look at me as if I were nuts. I decided to make my way back home. I walked along the sidewalk, past a school, and I decided to try one more time. To the little children leaving the school, I said "Merry Christmas." I made sure that I said it to each and every one of them. Apparently the staff at 'Yeshivas Bet Sefer' did not appreciate my Christmas greetings to the children. They started screaming at me and called the cops.

After my little experiment, I realized that the woman on 60 Minutes who voted for Trump and said that she now feels safer, was mistaken. I think what she is actually feeling, is emboldened.