WHAT I THINK ABOUT THE STUPID STUFF GOING ON IN THE WORLD
Maybe I’m just a scrooge, but if you are 35 years old, make $10.50 an hour, have a husband AND a six year old son, I think you should stop saying “Merry Christmas” and say “Happy Holidays” if your employer asks you to. Apparently Tonia Thomas of Pensacola, Florida didn’t think so. Her boss asked her to say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas”. She refused and continued saying “Merry Christmas”. The company fired her. Now I’m not a lawyer, but I think this woman must be out of her damn mind.
This is what Tonia Thomas had to say about being asked to say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas”.
“I hold my core Christian values to a high standard and I absolutely refuse to give in on the basis of values. All I wanted was to be able to say ‘Merry Christmas’ or to acknowledge no holidays,” she said Tuesday. “As a Christian, I don’t recognize any other holidays.”
Who gives a fuck what you recognize? You work for a company that asked you to do a job. As an employee of that company you have to deal with people who may or may not believe as you do. There is more than one holiday occurring during the season. There is Christmas and New Years. It’s the ‘Holiday Season’ not just one day. If the company wanted her to say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas”, there shouldn’t have been a problem. Instead, this woman decides that what she wants is more important. I guess maybe her god told her to be insubordinate and lose her low paying job in this economy. This is so absolutely ridiculous. I guess we all have to stick to our guns sometimes……no matter how stupid sticking to them may be.
You can read all about Tonia Thomas and her decision not to say “Happy Holidays” by clicking .
Sabrina
December 30th, 2008 at 1:06 am
Wow! You are really judgemental! Maybe there were other things going on that stopped her from saying that. Why should she be made to say anything? This is America last time I checked.
Dreadnecked Messiah
December 30th, 2008 at 4:12 am
Yes…this IS America…And in America’s private sector, which is usually heralded in Conservative business and philosophical debates, but prone to take a kicking when it offends the USUAL defenders. Many will try to “MORPH” their guaranteed and Constitutionally supported protections from Governmental Tyranny into a right that …DOES…NOT…EXIST…
…Simply stated, in our Private Entity’s, it is the hopefully well-thought out parameters…but LEGALLY, can be absurd,.. even…WHIMSICAL…IF whimsy is the intent, that determines our rules and behaviors…IN THE WORKPLACE….It is The Boss or his Surrogate, a proprietor, a property owner, etc., NOT our revered Charter of Freedoms, that calls the shots that so infuriated Ms.Tonia Thomas…
Ms. Very Stupid
December 30th, 2008 at 7:25 am
Sabrina you are correct on two things! I am judgemental and this (at least where I am) is America. Thank goodness that it is because maybe I would have to shut the fuck up in some other country. Maybe I wouldn’t even be able to say fuck anymore on this blog. Wouldn’t that be a shame? The last time I checked, employers hire employees to do some kind of work. Said hiring does not guarantee that employees will do said work, but I think that is the goal of most employers. If Tonia Thomas didn’t want to say what her employer wanted her to say because it would assault her noble sensibilities, she should get the fuck out of that employer’s place of business and go start her own damn company where they recognize Christmas as the only holiday. If she didn’t intend to do that, she needed to say what her employer was paying her to say. Since she didn’t, she got exactly what she deserved………fired!!
Ms. Very Stupid
December 30th, 2008 at 7:27 am
Dreadnecked Messiah…….I couldn’t have said it better unless I had already said it…..well said
Anthony
December 31st, 2008 at 7:15 am
Well it is a good thing for you this is America because you would be censored in other countries. I am the husband of Tonia and Sabrina had it exactly right when she said there may have been other things going on that stopped her from say “Happy Holidays”. It’s called standing up for what you believe in and in her case, as well as mine, she believes in saying “Merry Christmas” because that is the holiday that is being celebrated and saying anything else is a compromise of faith. The last I checked this nation only has a holiday that recognizes one day….Christmas. Hope you had a merry one!!!
Ms. Very Stupid
December 31st, 2008 at 8:42 am
Welcome to Very Stupid Things Anthony. You may call it standing up for yourself. I call it doing what your employer needs you to do. We are all adults and there are times when we have to use common sense in our everyday lives. When your employer asks you to say Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas, you do it if you value your job. To bring the point even closer home, if you knew the history of Christmas you would know that it IS NOT the birthday of Christ, but that’s another story. Do some research on the holiday.
Your wife had a job to do and she decided that she wasn’t going to do it the way her employer wanted her to. I bet this isn’t the first time that your wife has been asked to do something by her employer that she decided she wasn’t going to do. If your wife only wants to celebrate one holiday and doesn’t want to say what the company wants her to say, that’s fine. Now she can say whatever she wants at home or at her new job. Personally, I think your wife was insubordinate, should have been fired and likely has had problems at her jobs before. I might be wrong, but I bet I’m right.
This nation is made up of many different people who believe different things. Do you tell your child/children that there is a Santa Claus? Do you put up Christmas lights? Do you know the history behind any of those things? There are some people that believe and some people that don’t. Your wife’s former employer didn’t ask her to stop believing in Christmas or to celebrate another day. They asked her to simply say Happy Holidays. If that was to much to ask, then what happened to her is exactly what should have happened to her.
And you are correct. Depending on the country, I might be censored. That’s why I live in the USA – just so I can say whatever the hell I want to say about people who lose their jobs because they won’t do something simple that their employers ask.
Funny Lies
January 26th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
Well the funny thing is here, that she wasnt as “holy” as she said she was. She had only been going to church for like four months (in like 6yrs) before this happen & the only reason why she started going was because her husband was sleeping around with someone in the church & she want to call the girl out infront of everyone. What it ended up coming to was, she took advantage of the ppl at her work who put up with all her crap & games, an then just got to big for her own pants & thought she could do just about anything she wanted. To her this is just a scheme for some fast money. Mainly everything being told about this are lies.
She even went as far as asking her friends to lie for her “which to me is just sad”
I just feel bad for her son, hes got a mother who doesnt know where the truth ends & the lies began.
And a father that shows his son that its ok to cheat & treat women like throw aways toys just as long as u said “I’m sorry & I’ll try to never do it again”!
Hints “10yrs later & hes doing it again”.
Ms. Very Stupid
January 26th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
I’m sure that there is more to this story. The whole thing is stupid. I think that there are so many more important things that a woman in her situation could be doing. It will be interesting to see how this situation plays out.
Claire Baker
December 6th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
I totally agree with Tonia Thomas, because I’m also a born again Christian. Right on girl you keep doing what you’re doing! Don’t worry about what other people think! I totally agree with you!
Ms. Very Stupid
December 7th, 2009 at 1:52 am
LOL….Claire being a Christian isn’t the issue here. Are you really a Christian? Can you tell me where the holiday of Christmas even originated from? It is a pagan holiday that was changed “adopted” by Christians. It isn’t a religious holiday. If you are REALLY a Christian, you shouldn’t be celebrating a holiday like Christmas AT ALL, but that is another story.
Tonia lost her job for refusing to do what her employer needed. I hope she has found a new job where she can say whatever she wants because I’m sure that whatever god she believes in wants her to support her child and not become a burden to taxpayers.
bidyu
December 24th, 2009 at 2:13 pm
Wishing you a Merry merry Christmas ^_^
Nick
November 28th, 2010 at 6:52 pm
Happy Ramahanukwanzmas!!
Ms. Very Stupid
November 28th, 2010 at 8:19 pm
LOL…..Nick….Happy Holidays!