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The symbols of Christmas are "Santa Claus" and the ever-popular Christmas tree. Let's start with the tree. Do you expect me to believe that there were any pine trees in Israel 2,000 years ago? I doubt it. And if there were trees, the people were smart enough not to cut them down and hang rocks from it. So, the whole tree thing is modern and relatively stupid. The Santa part is from some Norwegian story that makes no sense to me. An old man who asks kids to sit on his lap and tell him what they want. It sounds like something Michael Jackson would do. And how does the North Pole figure into this? Didn't Jesus live in Israel?

So, the whole thing looks really contrived, and the "crisis" of shopping serves only to fuel retailers' greed. I'm a capitalist at heart, but why should we only have one buying season each year? And why put it in between Thanksgiving and New Years? Why not find some other time of the year, when there's a big holiday void, and throw it in there. Make it a time of the year when it's not so freaking cold outside, and really make sure it won't be damn hot either. Pick the Fall or Spring for the holiday. Maybe both. Hey, it's my fantasy - let me live it.

So, here I sit in the Bible belt, once again amazed at the sheer ignorance of so many around me. Today's incredulity comes from someone I work with at my part-time job. I heard this redneck talking to one of the many Mexicans that work at my store. He was trying to insult a Muslim, and they asked me how to spell "Jew." Now, aside from the sheer shock of someone asking me how to spell a 3-letter word, I was under the impression that "Jew" was a pretty easy-to-spell word. Maybe it is for people whose IQ is higher than room temperature. But I digress.

So, after educating the masses in spelling, I asked why they needed to know. He told me that he was trying to insult the aforementioned Muslim by calling him a Jew, since Jews (his exact words) "don't believe in anything or celebrating anything."

OK, please kindly pick your jaw up from the ground. I asked where he heard that, and his response was that was what he was taught. I was afraid to ask where he was taught that, but my fear of his response made me check my question before it left my lips.

Every once in awhile, you meet someone who makes you understand for a moment why things that make so sense exist, like Hillary Clinton getting elected Senator. You see, there's apparently a lot of people out there who think like this person, and will walk around shouldering more than their share of ignorance. Many of them have computers, jobs, cars, and kids (shudder at the thought). Many of them also vote. There is no spelling test on the driver's exam. And in this state, you can register to vote when you get (or renew) your license. And you wondered how Diane Feinstein got elected. Quod Erat Demonstrandum.

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