Let's be clear. It's okay to say any one of these AND exclude the others if you wish -- to anyone, regardless of yours or other's preferred celebration or beliefs. Really, it is. I promise.

It's true. Everyone has to lighten up -- just a bit. That's the only way we're all going to live in peace and harmony. For example, if someone says Happy Kwanza to me -- and I barely know what Kwanza is -- I'm not about to get upset or indignant because the person was 'insensitive' to my personal set of beliefs. Instead, I will thank them handily and wish them back, 'Happy Kwanza!'

It drives me nuts (and I'm probably not the only one) when some people get soooooo uptight about various seasons greetings. They think that being culturally sensitive means being culturally neutral. That is NOT true.

Instead, the way to cultural sensitivity is through cultural acceptance. That means that we embrace different cultures and revel in the brilliance of diversity they offer. It does not mean that we ignore those differences and treat others as though their cultural make-up is some ambiguous hodge-podge of innocuous thoughts worthy only of the most generic well-wishing. Nor does it mean that we should be fearful of expressing the joys of our own preferred celebration.