To the Editor:
The holiday season is here! Shoppers rush from store to store, looking for the right gift for that special someone.
Yuletide cheer is alive and well. Passersby seem more friendly than usual. Strangers are willing to lend a helping hand. Peace, love, and understanding supplant anger, hate, and intolerance. Truly, the magic of Christmas brings people closer together.
However, immediately after New Year’s Day, withered Christmas trees, jovial Yuletide decorations, and joyful holiday gift-wrappings are thrown out. Sadly, along with those festive trimmings go our benevolence. Nasty snarls and frigid looks replace cheerful holiday greetings. A helping hand from a stranger is looked upon with dire suspicion. Familiar, longstanding prejudices and bigotry are rekindled.
Why can’t the Christmas spirit be alive throughout the year? The Christmas season clearly demonstrates that society can set aside its differences and live in harmony.
JOHN Di GENIO and ALBERT J. CUPO
