Christmas unRant

I decided to give my new grandson and family a creche for Christmas. This is not top secret since at two months he can't read.

Launching forth into the mall melee I discovered that despite the stacks of stuff for Christmas clogging every aisle, despite whole areas of various stores given over to Christmas decorations, finding a creche was more difficult than I supposed.

If you are wondering what a creche is, you are not alone. Judging from the blank stares from various clerks, the word creche is no longer in the vernacular. I quickly dropped the time-honored French term and substituted "nativity sets."

"Activity sets?" asked one clerk.

"Yes," I answered, grabbing hold of a veneer of calmness. "An activity set with Jesus, Mary and Joseph action figures."

By the fourth or fifth store I had my act down: "I see this Christmas section and a nice stand of Hanukkah stuff, do you have any Nativity sets?" The reactions were so interesting I spent several afternoons on the quest.

Some people were flat out defensive: "No. We don't carry that." Others were sorrowful: "No. They don't carry anything that's...you know."

I noticed Buddha statues in stores decked out to sell, sell, sell for Christmas. (Do you have any American "Buddist" friends that DON'T celebrate Christmas?) Sometimes I'd find a couple $9.99 Nativities in acres of Santas, snowmen, elves, reindeers.

It reminded me of the Christmas I was looking for religious wrapping paper in LA. "What religion?" asked the clerk. I was all the way out to the street before it hit. I went back in and explained, "If people ask for religious Christmas paper, the religion is always Christian. CHRIST-mas, get it?"

On my Nativity quest, I didn't say much when the answer was no. Just "Hmmmm," or "Really..." in a quiet sort of voice with a pause that let the lack expand to a noticeable vacume. I didn't need to say anything, the message seemed to ring out in the silence.

Occasionally the store owners responded with joy. One florist announced they were closing as I pushed open the door. "I was just wondering if you had any Nativity sets," I said. Suddenly the door was opened and he welcomed me in to see his two large sets. He gave me several suggestions on where to find smaller sets and showed off his "religious tree" that he does every year. I guess some CHRISTmas trees are more religious than others.

Clearly asking about the Nativity is a culturally acceptable way to say, "You got Jesus around here anywhere?" Try it. I'm sure He's around here somewhere.