It’s consumerism, not political correctness, that stole Christmas

How the car industry stole Christmas

I’m sad to differ with Issac Bailey’s premise that no one has stolen Christmas. Why? Observe, for example, this year’s auto industry commercials and you will not find “Merry Christmas,” and rarely find “Happy Holidays.” Both wishes have been grinched.

What you do find are expressions that distance us further from our long-held traditions. We hear of “Happy Honda Days,” Mazda’s “ Celebrate the Season,” the “Ford Year End Sales Event,” the “Jeep Big Finish Event,” the “Acura Season of Performance Event,” and GMC’s “Season to Upgrade.” We find no Christmas, not even holidays.

Will next year cast us even further from our traditions? From Merry Christmas, to Happy Holidays, to a Season to Upgrade, to what?

Pay City Council what they deserve

If I understand correctly there are absolutely no requirements, other than the popular vote, to become a City Council member.

The pay should be no more than any other Charlottean who may not even have a high school diploma. I believe that might be minimum wage with no benefits.

Women are tired of playing along

Felix Sabates doesn’t get it. Like many men, he just can’t understand what the big deal is. He states “if this would have happened 30 years ago, people would have laughed about it and kept going.” He adds regretfully, “Today you can’t do that.”

That’s because it’s not a laughing matter anymore. Yes, women laughed about it, too, 30 years ago. Not because they thought it was funny; they laughed because if they didn’t, they would get passed over for the promotion, the part or the job. It was an economic necessity to pretend this kind of disrespect towards women was acceptable. I realize Mr. Sabates doesn’t regard this behavior as disrespectful. But that’s the problem. It’s disrespectful. It’s not funny. And women are tired of pretending that it is.

It’s no wonder women didn’t speak up

Referring to Jerry Richardson’s sexually harassing behavior, Felix Sabates says that if this were 30 years ago people would have laughed about it and kept going. Yes. And that is one of the many reasons why so many women have waited 30 years or more to speak up.

Don’t overreact on Jerry Richardson

If Jerry Richardson pursued any unwanted physical contact with anybody; man, woman, employee, colleague, fellow human being, he should suffer the legal consequences, period.

On the other hand, if he is guilty of no more than sophomoric innuendos, give the guy a break. For what it’s worth, in his life’s work he created thousands of jobs in the restaurant business, brought the NFL (and more jobs) to Charlotte, and shared his good fortune (ask Levine’s Children Hospital and UNCC).

Being a wealthy philanthropist does not give you carte blanche to abuse your subordinates, but let’s make the punishment fit the misdeed. Based on what we have seen and heard, I say forgive Mr. Richardson for naughty, childish behavior and let’s move on.

Nixing insurance mandate isn’t a win

Forum writer Bill Hawthorne writes in regard to the Republican tax reform: “They eliminated the Obamacare mandate so that you can truly choose a plan that suits you without Big Brother requiring you to do so.” So what if people decide not buy health insurance and then suffer a serious injury or illness that far exceeds their ability to pay? Can we send the bill to you?

Just stop with the plastic bags already

Why not use washable bags? Our future generations will thank us.

This story was originally published December 27, 2017 at 4:16 PM with the headline "It’s consumerism, not political correctness, that stole Christmas."