A few days ago three people were thrown out of a Post Office in Silver Spring MD (Aspen Hill Shopping Center location to be precise) because they had the audacity to (gasp!) sing Christmas Carols! The post office manager, committed to his most sacred duty of banning all vestiges of Christianity (not to mention joy and happiness) immediately groused at them and summarily evicted them. There were decent people in there who immediately booed the manager. The article didn't name this surly manager, but one could imagine it's similar to either Grinch or Scrooge.
The Aspen Hill area is where Georgia Avenue and Connecticut Avenue intersect. Just a few miles south on Connecticut Avenue, where that road intersects University Boulevard, is Kensington MD. Several years ago Kensington became the laughingstock of the country when Kensington's mayor banned Santa Claus from the local Christmas parade. After they found the parade route lined with people dressed as Santa, the mayor et al were shamed into abandoning that exercise of politically correct pettiness.
Yes, yes, I understand that the Post Office is governed by Federal regulations and not those of Montgomery County. However, this branch does draw its staff from Montgomery County citizenry, particularly the liberals who love being good little bureaucratic lemmings. I do understand that the Post Office is falling on hard times economically. Given the way this nitwit manager treated decent people, it's no wonder that folks are looking for alternatives. The USPS is contemplating the closure of quite a few locations. I hope that the Aspen Hill location is at the top of that list.
Since when is a Post Office a church? If it's improper to stop a Christmas observance in a public federal building, what's to stop me from walking into the narthex of your church next Sunday morning and singing Tim Minchin songs at the top of my lungs?
ReplyDeletethis is the far left liberal who sees Osama as a savior of this nation and is blinded by the communist teachings of Osama in the not so white house anymore(its a pinko communist house now) !
ReplyDeleteThomas, the First Amendment is addressed to governmental agencies and makes plain that they cannot infringe upon speech. The manager got huffy over the fact that Christmas carols were being sung (or attempted - I think they only got a few notes out before His Nibs popped his gasket). If you had sung your Minchin music in the PO, I bet he wouldn't have batted an eyelash.
ReplyDeleteNow on non-publicly owned venues, free speech isn't unlimited. You would not be permitted to sing Minchin in my church. By the same token, I would not be allowed to sing Christmas carols in a synagogue or mosque (I wouldn't presume to attempt it). The respective boards of trustees would have sole authority there.
Anonymous, you're a dolt. You don't know me or what I'm blinded by (astigmatism). Stop embarrassing yourself, or if you can't help it, continue to post as "Anonymous" so as not to bring shame to anyone who attempted to educate you.
ReplyDeleteJanet, unless you have spoken to the manager in question or were actually at the post office at the time, you have no way of knowing that he "got huffy over the fact that Christmas carols were being sung". The reason given by the USPS spokesman is really quite reasonable.
“Public assembly and public address, except when conducted or sponsored by the Postal Service, are prohibited in lobbies and other interior areas open to the public...We have rules and regulations governing conduct on postal property...The only reason you should be inside is for postal business.”
If a trio (trio? Everyone knows you need a quartet to do proper carols, but I digress) of singers can come uninvited into a post office and perform their set, then any busker with a guitar should expect the same courtesy, and soon enough it could be very difficult to send your package, what with five different versions of "Redemption Song" wafting through the air.
Unless you're going to make an exception for Christmas carols, which you can't do because of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment unless you're also going to have "Avinu Malkeinu" during High Holy Days and Sufi Dervishes at some other point, thus requiring a local post office to hire a full-time talent booking agent, it's simpler and fairer to politely ask the carolers to leave so that post office business can be conducted in the post office. You'll just have to bring an MP3 player with you if you want to listen to Christmas carols while you buy stamps.
Anonymous, I regret Thomas’s calling you a dolt. I don’t share that opinion, and am only publishing that comment for further illumination.
ReplyDeleteIt’s true that I wasn’t there, but neither were you. I don’t know about this spokesperson for the area post office who seems to have been queried after the fact. The word “scowling” was mentioned by an eye witness. Furthermore, this same eye witness heard the manager mention the “policy against solicitation”. Unless the carolers were extending a collection bucket, I don’t know where that comes from.
You mention “exception for Christmas carols”. That ‘s the point of the post. Did the manager react in knee-jerk manner to the carols when he might not have to other types of music? Just wondering. I suspect the answer is yes.