It's the most not-unwonderful time of the year

The prospect of being done with the semester has nothing to do with it. I'm just enjoying the few weeks of the year when I'm not completely sick of Christmas decorations, merchandising, cheer and all the other loosely holiday-related junk they put out on the streets and in the stores. For me, this period runs roughly between Halloween and a few days after Thanksgiving, when the roar of Ho-ho-hos becomes deafening.

Being Jewish may have something to do with it. That Jewishness may also get in the way of understanding all the fundamentalist Christians who are apoplectic over the fact that some cashiers say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" Political Animal notes that, despite their past failures, the American Family Association is boycotting Target because of the neutral greeting.

Target stores have continued to ban Salvation Army kettles from storefronts and the phrase "Merry Christmas" from advertising, which has prompted the American Family Association (AFA) to launch a boycott of the retail giant.

In just three days, more than 300,000 people pledged to steer clear of Target during the biggest shopping weekend of the year -- the days following Thanksgiving.

Randy Sharp, director of special projects for AFA, said, on average, more than 4,000 people are signing on to the boycott every hour.

"Shoppers are growing disgruntled by companies that are choosing to do away with a simple greeting like 'Merry Christmas,'" he said, "and they are showing it with their pocketbooks."

I don't celebrate Christmas, but I don't mind being wished a "Merry Christmas," since I take it as "enjoy the movie you will watch and the Chinese food you will eat on Dec. 25." However, I think that "Happy Holidays" makes more sense, not for PC reasons, but because there are so many holidays, religious and otherwise, between the start of Christmas retail season and the actual event. "Happy Holidays" has come to encompass Veteran's Day and Thanksgiving.

On a semi-related note, I'm a little peeved that Victoria's Secret has taken over most of the ad space on the Washington Post's website. The people sitting behind me probably can't read the text, but can see the scantily-clad women on the top and side of each page. I can only wonder what they think I'm looking at.