“Julie, don’t you think it’s time for us to take a break from all this Lean and leadership and problem-solving stuff and wish our readers a Merry Christmas?”
“Merry Christmas doesn’t sound very politically correct, Curmudge. We should say ‘Happy Holidays’.”
“Politically correct, Julie; what’s that?”
“The dictionary says it means ‘marked by or adhering to a typically progressive orthodoxy involving race, gender, sexual affinity, or ecology’.”
“Does it say anything about age? If it did, I wouldn’t be old; I’d be ‘generationally challenged’.”
“Sorry, Curmudge, but age isn’t mentioned.”
“Well then, I can’t be politically correct. Besides, did you ever hear of a politically correct curmudgeon? That sounds like an oxymoron.”
“An oxy what, Curmudge? Oh, never mind.”
“Despite saying we weren’t going to, let’s think for a moment about Lean. The main principles of Lean are continuous improvement and respect for people. If we have respect for all people, we don’t have much need for political correctness. To me, respect is genuine, but political correctness sounds like something dreamed up by a correct politician. And that really is an oxymoron.”
“I looked it up, Curmudge. An oxymoron is ‘conjoining contradictory terms’. Your example really helped me to understand it. But we still haven’t decided how we’re going to express our best wishes to everyone.”
“The fact that we don’t work in a secular hospital makes it simple, Julie. We can say, without reservation, ‘Merry Christmas’. And to those for whom Christmas isn’t meaningful but have December holidays we’ll wish a heartfelt ‘Happy Hanukkah, Eid al-Adha, Kwanzaa, and Boxing Day’.”
“Happy Holidays, Curmudge.”
“Merry Christmas, Julie.”
Affinity’s Kaizen Curmudgeon
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1 comment:
Dear Kaizen and Julie,
I thought I worked for a religious organization, and the Birth of Christ was the reason for the holiday season. It seems to me there would not be a need to even say Happy holidays, without this event. Let's ask our sponsoring Sister's, which is Politically correct.
I applaud the Lean efforts, and look forward to seeing a few improvements being explored some day in my work area, But I am sorry that LEAN also has taken on the voice of the whining minority.
As a 59 year old, white, male, I clearly qualify as a MINORITY, within, the Affinity organization, and I do not consider myself as person who needs to cuddled or babied to live the Affinity Mission and support Affinity's Values. Perhaps, Those few employees offended by a religious organization wishing the community and fellow employees a MERRY CHRISTMAS, should be reminded who they work for and what the mission of the organization is and how it fits in with there personal goals and future.
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