Merry Christmas, and clean up that garbage mess!
I live my life by certain principles and conduct and I think that everyone should respect some basic commonsense and acts of respect in our society. These are mine.
By Ray Hanania
I live my life by certain concepts.
Don’t move next door to an airport and complain about the noise.
Don’t buy a big home at a cheap price in a region filled with forest preserves, and complain about the coyotes. Stand by the door and watch your dog when you let it out!
Pay attention to your children. Know what your kids do during the day. Do you realize they might be in a street gang and up to no good? Or do you close your eyes to the truth and when something happens you blame everyone except yourself?
If your son is out on the street at midnight with a knife in his hand, don’t blame the police when they refuse to disarm or get down on the ground.
Say “Merry Christmas.” I don’t care if some people think it’s politically incorrect to say it. So, I’ll say it again. “Merry Christmas.” Christmas is both a religious celebration and a national holiday that is a major part of American culture.
From Jimmy Stewart in the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “Merry Christmas, movie house! Merry Christmas, Emporium! Merry Christmas, you wonderful old Building and Loan!”
That doesn’t mean we don’t respect other religions. Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanza and Happy Ramadan, too.
America is more diverse today than ever, but that doesn’t mean that we must erase our cultural foundations. If you’re Jewish or Muslim, say “Merry Christmas” to a Christian. It’s the right thing to do. And I’ll say, “Happy Hanukkah” to Jews, “Happy Kwanza” to Blacks – if they celebrate it – and, “Happy Ramadan” to Muslims.
Don’t demand respect for yourself and not give it to others.
Handicapped parking spaces should be reserved for people who need assistance walking, not just because they are old or have another disability.
If you have a disability and can drive, that probably means you can park anywhere in a parking lot without a problem. If you don’t have a wheelchair, walker or cane do you really need to take that handicapped parking space?
Keep your home clean. It’s your reflection. Mow the lawn in the Spring and the Summer. Rake the leaves in the Fall. Shovel the snow during the Winter. Pick up the litter on your property.
Does your refrigerator look like a mess when you open it? That’s a reflection of your life, too. Clean up that reflection.
Slow down when you drive. You’re not Vin Diesel in a remake of “The Fast and the Furious.” The newly widened LaGrange Road is not the Indianapolis 500. Do you really have to go 55 in a 35 mph stretch of the road? Do you really have to speed to get in front of someone, and then slow down?
If you’re a real man, open the door and let the woman walk through first. You’re not being sexist! It’s amazing how many women look at me with surprise when I do that. Are today’s men that bad?
Thank the people who do those tough jobs no one wants. Give them some Christmas cash. The garbage man, the recycler, the mailman, and the lawn waste collector. They deserve it.
How about taking time to put that trash out properly? Have you seen how people just throw their garbage along the curb in broken boxes, ripped bags and knocked over garbage cans? Don’t just toss the garbage into a pile and expect it to be picked up. Put it out properly.
Finally, remember this holiday season a great conversation from one of my favorite Humphrey Bogart movies, “We’re No Angels” (1955):
Bogart: “I’m going to buy them their Christmas turkey.”
Aldo Ray: “Buy? Do you really mean ‘buy’?”
Bogart: “Yes, buy! In the Spirit of Christmas … The hard part’s going to be stealing the money to pay for it.”
END
Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.
Email Ray Hanania at rghanania@gmail.com.
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