Celebrating religious and cultural holidays at work, inclusively

Every late October/early November, my family celebrated Diwali. My mom would draw rangoli patterns on our front steps and light little candles with cotton wicks all over the house. We had friends over, played three-card poker and ate rice, dhal, paneer and alu with cucumber raita and mango chutney. Christmas is when I get time off, but I don’t overlook Eid, Hanukkah, Nowruz, Juneteenth and the Lunar New Year. I follow the simple rule that just because it’s not a paid holiday, doesn’t mean it’s not worth celebrating. I mentioned this to someone once and got a puzzled look, “Why? You’re in America now.” The message was clear: Give up who you are and become one of us. I don’t want to see this happen in the workplace. Source: Celebrating religious and cultural holidays at work, inclusively | The Seattle Times