Christmas at BYU

Posted by Braden

Reason number #324 why I like BYU:

Teachers say "Merry Christmas," because we're a private school, and we can do that. Back home, the correct holiday greeting was "Happy Holidays" or "Happy Winter Break." We students took to saying "Merry Christma-hannu-kwanzak-adan-olstice," covering Christnas, Hannukah, Kwanza, Ramadan, and Winter Solstice, but for some reason the administration still didn't like that.

Here nativities are preferred to bionic reindeer, and traditional Christmas songs have a slight edge on "jingle bells." It's nice to live in an atmosphere where what's ultimately right trumps what's socially "correct."

As an aside, my physics professor also gave this helpful advice about surviving the winter season:

"Now that it's winter, you kids need to keep a few things in mind. The coefficient of friction between your feet and the surface you are walking on outside has rapidly declined, and your legs will no longer necessarily be orthogonal to the ground when you think they will be (due to hidden ice under the snow). Make sure that you increase the angle of elevation of your legs by taking smaller steps, and favor translation to rotation when you begin to lose your footing."