Christmas Karen Writes a Letter Bitching That Her Neighbor's Lights Have a 'Harmful Impact' That Remind Her of 'Systematic Biases'
Source - A St. Anthony [MN] resident claims to have received a letter in the mail on Monday that chastised her for her Christmas lights display.
The letter states that the “twinkling, colorful lights are a reminder of the division that runs through our country” and that such displays can have a “harmful impact.” ...
The resident who posted the letter said in her Facebook post, “Wow, my neighbors and I got these in the mail. We got some whackos around here. Time to move.”
The envelope pictured is addressed to “Neighbor." ...
A reporter from Alpha News made contact with the resident who posted the letter. Although the resident did not object to being identified, Alpha News is choosing to keep her identity anonymous to avoid exposing her to potential backlash.
In the photo posted, the letter is typed and appears to be unsigned with no return address on the envelope.
The letter reads as follows:
“I couldn’t help but notice your Christmas lights display. During these unprecedented times we have all experienced challenges which casual words just don’t describe what we’re feeling. The idea of twinkling, colorful lights are a reminder of divisions that continue to run through our society, a reminder of systemic biases against our neighbors who don’t celebrate Christmas or who can’t afford to put up lights of their own.
We must do the work of educating ourselves about the harmful impact an outward facing display like yours can have. I challenge you to respect the dignity of all people, while striving to learn from differences, ideas and opinions of our neighbors. We must come together collectively and challenge these institutional inequities; St. Anthony is a community welcoming of all people and we must demand better for ourselves.”
The resident who received the letter told Alpha News that two of her neighbors also received letters. When asked to speculate who may have sent the letter, the resident said they “have a feeling it was someone from our neighborhood,” but didn’t expound further.
Oh, Holy Night. You can be damned sure of two things. The people on the receiving end of this letter know exactly who sent it. And the sender would love nothing more than to have her name out there. Not publishing it might be the correct moral thing to do, but in no way is that what she wants.
Most neighborhoods big enough have at least one of these people. Sanctimonious, self-righteous, scowl-faced, joyless, dead-eyed, orc-skinned loners who have no purpose in life beyond appointing themselves the guardians of all that is right. Who hate you for not being exactly like them in every respect. But would hate you even more if you did. Because they despise their own miserable, misled existence spent as the canker sore on the gum of decent society most of all. I can't promise you that the person who took the time and effort to form these sentences, type them into a Word document, hit "print," stuff the letter into an envelope, address and mail it has cloven hoofs and gives off an odor of sulfur. But I'll be you anything she's got hair like grey steel wool and a Volvo wagon with 15 dump stickers and a "COEXIST" bumper sticker whose message she's never lived by. We've all seen the type.
Imagine the kind of self-importance it takes to even think these, much less reduce them to writing and send them to someone. And the pure, unmitigated gall it takes to address it to "Neighbor." To a barnacle like this, the people who live near her aren't "neighbors" in any sense of the word. They're people who live in the same vicinity, which is something very different. They're background extras in the drama that is her life. With her as the caring, considerate, socially-conscious hero and them as two-dimensional nobodies who exist only to be saved by her noble spirit.
The idea that maybe they put up Christmas lights to bring some joy and cheer to a time that has needed it desperately would never occur to her. The thought that perhaps they just need some semblance of normalcy would never enter into her thinking. That they simply want to carry on a tradition in their culture of honoring the birth of the baby that they believe brought them eternal salvation with a festive display is beyond her comprehension, other than being a hate crime.
And look at that house! It's not like we're looking at some gaudy eyesore. Or one that's even overtly religious, if hating the religion in question is your thing. It's modest by any standard. I used to work with a guy who had a Christmas lights dick-measuring challenge going with the guys on his street to see who could run up their electric bills the most. This house would've been DQ'ed.
So the only rational response to a letter like this would be to go all out. "Can't afford to put up lights of their own?" Listen up, hag. Strings of lights are dirt cheap. You can do a whole house for about 30 bucks at Target. I'd buy out the entire section. Go way over budget on the December credit card debt and not stop until they're seeing my house from space. I'd go full Griswold.
Merry Christmas. Kiss my ass, "neighbor."