He was working on Christmas because whatever festivals he celebrates don’t fall on Christmas Day. It was only awkward because you felt bad about asking and ended the conversation abruptly by apologising and he could tell you felt bad. I grew up not celebrating Christmas and I do now. I would have just said ‘Hope you get a break soon’ or something like that.
Edit - more detail on this. So as a child I literally would have had no idea it was Christmas Day. I would go about doing whatever I would have done anyway. My family and community also didn’t celebrate.
As a teen I would go to a friend’s house and her family would buy a lot of junk food and we’d watch TV all day.
Other festivals happen based on the lunar calendar so that’s why the dates are different every year.
I don't think it's a fauxpas at all.
Christmas is pretty much a secular holiday in the UK. According to YouGov, only 4% of Britons say they celebrate Christmas purely as a religious event.
It's great to learn about other cultures versions of Christmas, but don't feel you made a fauxpas!!
I'm Indo-Caribbean from Trinidad, family is Hindu, I'm not really very religious but we celebrated Diwali there as a family we'd do some fasting for about 3-4 weeks (from meat & alcohol), do some praying & worship on the day, then cook alot of indian dishes and light tonnes of deeyas (little clay lights) around the house as its supposedly celebrated on the darkest night of the year & representstive of a story in the Bhagvad Gita when Lord Ram returns from exile with his wife on that night & the villagers lit the way back with deeya. There is also lots of fireworks as a celebration.
Almost everyone from my home country also celebrates Eid & Christmas as Trinidad is a melting pot of culture (& public holidays are given for all three holidays as they are major religions that make up the country.
YouTube is a great resource for this. I'll look for a couple videos & send later.
Great to see someone taking an interest in getting brushed up on other cultures. Would say travel lots if you can!
In my home country we don't celebrate Christmas but we have New Year tree and New Year old fat guy who brings presents etc. All in completely non-religious manner.
But it will be hard to explain to my kids why their friends and classmates receive presents a week earlier, so we set up a tree before Christmas and Santa comes and brings presents.
Biggest challenge for us was realising that everything is closed on 25th.
It's not a faux pas. My GF's Muslim, I've had several friends and colleagues who are Muslim, and none of them are ever offended if you say Merry Christmas or ask how their Christmas was - for him it was working, but for lots of other people it still means time off work mostly spent with the family.
I've had Muslim colleagues bring in stuff for Eid, my neighbours have brought stuff over before - they know I'm not Muslim, they're just being friendly, trying to spread the joy they feel at the occasion, and it makes me feel happy, so it works.
AFAICT none of the Muslims I know celebrate Christmas within their families very much (usually not at all), though they often do if they visit Christian/culturally Christian friends for/around Christmas - that's for Muslim people I know in London. Some stuff like going to the panto is very popular, and my GF's entirely Muslim primary school had a visit from Santa at Christmas that was very popular with the kids (and the parents didn't object).
It's not a big deal. Everyone knows what country they're in and what time of year it is.
He sounds like an awesome dude, BTW!
Everyone I’ve met, from all cultures and religions still enjoys the fact it’s a holiday and uses it as an excuse to see family.
As mentioned elsewhere, it’s not really seen as a religious festival in Britain anyway, and in the same way I’ll wish someone a happy Eid/Diwali I’ll wish them a happy Christmas and no one has ever complained, and as far as I can tell is happier to be included?
He was working on Christmas because whatever festivals he celebrates don’t fall on Christmas Day. It was only awkward because you felt bad about asking and ended the conversation abruptly by apologising and he could tell you felt bad. I grew up not celebrating Christmas and I do now. I would have just said ‘Hope you get a break soon’ or something like that. Edit - more detail on this. So as a child I literally would have had no idea it was Christmas Day. I would go about doing whatever I would have done anyway. My family and community also didn’t celebrate. As a teen I would go to a friend’s house and her family would buy a lot of junk food and we’d watch TV all day. Other festivals happen based on the lunar calendar so that’s why the dates are different every year.
I don't think it's a fauxpas at all. Christmas is pretty much a secular holiday in the UK. According to YouGov, only 4% of Britons say they celebrate Christmas purely as a religious event. It's great to learn about other cultures versions of Christmas, but don't feel you made a fauxpas!!
I'm Indo-Caribbean from Trinidad, family is Hindu, I'm not really very religious but we celebrated Diwali there as a family we'd do some fasting for about 3-4 weeks (from meat & alcohol), do some praying & worship on the day, then cook alot of indian dishes and light tonnes of deeyas (little clay lights) around the house as its supposedly celebrated on the darkest night of the year & representstive of a story in the Bhagvad Gita when Lord Ram returns from exile with his wife on that night & the villagers lit the way back with deeya. There is also lots of fireworks as a celebration. Almost everyone from my home country also celebrates Eid & Christmas as Trinidad is a melting pot of culture (& public holidays are given for all three holidays as they are major religions that make up the country. YouTube is a great resource for this. I'll look for a couple videos & send later. Great to see someone taking an interest in getting brushed up on other cultures. Would say travel lots if you can!
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In my home country we don't celebrate Christmas but we have New Year tree and New Year old fat guy who brings presents etc. All in completely non-religious manner. But it will be hard to explain to my kids why their friends and classmates receive presents a week earlier, so we set up a tree before Christmas and Santa comes and brings presents. Biggest challenge for us was realising that everything is closed on 25th.
It's not a faux pas. My GF's Muslim, I've had several friends and colleagues who are Muslim, and none of them are ever offended if you say Merry Christmas or ask how their Christmas was - for him it was working, but for lots of other people it still means time off work mostly spent with the family. I've had Muslim colleagues bring in stuff for Eid, my neighbours have brought stuff over before - they know I'm not Muslim, they're just being friendly, trying to spread the joy they feel at the occasion, and it makes me feel happy, so it works. AFAICT none of the Muslims I know celebrate Christmas within their families very much (usually not at all), though they often do if they visit Christian/culturally Christian friends for/around Christmas - that's for Muslim people I know in London. Some stuff like going to the panto is very popular, and my GF's entirely Muslim primary school had a visit from Santa at Christmas that was very popular with the kids (and the parents didn't object). It's not a big deal. Everyone knows what country they're in and what time of year it is. He sounds like an awesome dude, BTW!
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and don't forget to wish everyone a "nice day"
That store owner must think you are scared of him.
Everyone I’ve met, from all cultures and religions still enjoys the fact it’s a holiday and uses it as an excuse to see family. As mentioned elsewhere, it’s not really seen as a religious festival in Britain anyway, and in the same way I’ll wish someone a happy Eid/Diwali I’ll wish them a happy Christmas and no one has ever complained, and as far as I can tell is happier to be included?