Source: CBC News

By Peggy Lam

Pandemic restrictions are giving some Manitobans who don’t celebrate Christmas a much-needed break from the pressure of the holiday season.

Autumn Crossman-Serb, 30, doesn’t celebrate the holiday because she’s Muslim, but for the former Starbucks barista and shift supervisor, escaping Christmas and all the decorations and non-stop carols was difficult while working at a shopping mall location.

“Christmas is all around. It’s a nightmare.… It’s too much,” she said. “It starts, like, two months early. At least let me have Halloween.”

The Winnipegger said she experienced micro-aggressions at work, where customers expected her to follow the Christian tradition and express excitement over it. When that happened, she politely told them she has her own holidays, she said.

“For years, I’ve had people being like, ‘You don’t celebrate Christmas, that is so sad.’ And I’m like, OK, well, let’s relax there. It’s not that sad,” she said.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/manitobans-don-t-celebrate-christmas-2020-1.5846117