Grinch update:

[shirenomad]

Mr. Nguyen's nose isn't quite that big, though.

And there's going to be something on Jimmy Kimmel over the next week. Yeesh. Let's hope it's positive.

Comments

[pretzelcoatl.livejournal.com]

Geez. This whole thing sounds like THEY are living in a Christmas special. :/

...If that's the case, does this mean they're going to have to make some reconciliation when Santa (inevitably) needs saved? Heh.

[chubbypanda.livejournal.com]

I looked into this and wrote the following letter to the editor, which I've sent to all the NorCal publications that put out an article about the Aerts and the Nguyens. The list I've covered includes the Saratoga News, the Los Gatos Weekly Times, CNN.com, and the San Jose Mercury News.

***

Dear Editor,

Having grown up in the Saratoga, I am intimately familiar with Monte Sereno and Los Gatos. As a student at Saratoga High School, one of my favorite holiday activities was, and still is, to take a grand tour of the holiday lights in the area with several car loads of friends. Two of the places we would frequent were Ann Arbor Court in Los Gatos and, of course, Danielle Place in Monte Sereno, where the Aerts had their display. As such, I can personally attest to the noise, traffic, and disturbance in those areas that I observed during most of my visits. Often, long lines of slow moving vehicles would stop up the street, making entering or leaving nearby residences difficult. On some nights, traffic would move more quickly, and be all the more dangerous when some cars turned off their headlights to better enjoy the lights. This was a fairly common practice. I myself was involved in several near collisions, and personally witnessed two. People would park their cars along the side of the road, get out, have their pictures takes, mingle with other visitors, and occasionally drink. Since the Aerts’ home was a Toys for Tots drop off site, the congestion in front of their house tended to be more pronounced then at the other sites I visited. The San Jose Mercury News estimated that over 100,000 people visited Danielle Place each holiday season (1). CNN put that number at about 1,500 cars a night (2). I consider both figures conservative and am not surprised that, after enduring over six years of holiday disruptions, the Nguyens have finally chosen to speak out.

Some have claimed that the Nguyens are “selfish” and “anti-Christmas”, and that the Aerts have a right to do as they please because this is America (3). While I do not know the Nguyen’s personally, I have been friends with their pastor’s eldest son for six years. I know that they are a devoutly religious family deeply involved with their church. Above all else, the Christmas holiday is a celebration of the birth of Jesus, and few understand that better than the Nguyens. Defaming a devout Christian family as “anti-Christmas” is slander of the worst kind. Moreover, I had the occasion to meet their daughter several times while at college, and found her to be a kind, generous, and caring individual. It is difficult for me to believe that she is the product of “selfish” parents. The Nguyens *do* live in America, the greatest country in the world and a bastion for human rights and individual freedoms. However, one person’s rights end where another person’s begin. The Aerts do have the right to demonstrate their holiday spirit. What they do not have is the right to infringe on any of their neighbors’ right to privacy, peace, or safety. In some ways, the Aerts’ display of a giant singing Grinch pointed at the Nguyen’s house is a sign of a more pronounced pettiness of spirit and lack of generosity than anything the Nguyens have been accused of doing.

This holiday season, let’s keep in mind what this time of year is really all about. For Christians, it’s about a brave, generous, and caring son of God who selflessly gave his life on the cross for the sins of God’s children. For those of us who belong to other faiths, such as myself, this time of year is about being with friends and loved ones, caring for our fellow humans, and putting aside worldly squabbles and petty differences to try to make the world a better place for all of us. It’s about faith, charity, and, above all, hope. Jesus famously said, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” (Matthew 19:19, Matthew 22:39, Mark 12:31). What better time of year to remember that?


Sincerely,


Allen H. Lin
Irvine, CA


1. http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/10261154.htm?1c
2. http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/11/26/neighborhood.grinch.ap/
3. http://www.lgwt.com/lgletters.shtml

[shirenomad]

Thanks. I'm sure they'll appreciate the support.

But I wouldn't have expected you to invoke the Bible. You aren't turning into one of those Jesus freaks, are you? ;P

[chubbypanda.livejournal.com]

Nope. Nowhere near turning into a Jesus freak, although I did attend a Catholic private school when I was younger. Christmas has always been a religious holiday and is supposed to be about the birth of Christ. Regardless of whether or not I believe in the Christian doctrine, I respect the faith of its practitioners. For a devout Christian, Christmas is a religious holiday that has a far deeper meaning than it does for a secular person, who is primarily concerned with its commercialized aspect and perpetuating the Santa Claus mythos. I know the Saratoga/Los Gatos area very well. It is my home town. I wanted to remind the community surrounding the Aerts and Nguyens that the true, intended meaning of Christmas isn't about ostentatious displays of charity, but about quietly doing good. That $50,000 Aerts spends on his display every year could do a heck of a lot more good for the poor in Santa Clara than all the toys his Toys for Tots dropoff site collects, and donating the money to a worthy cause wouldn't piss off quite so many neighbors. There *were* 90 signatures on that town petition. If any case, I have a low opinion of the type of person who likes to grandstand and have their ego stroked. I think that with that singing Grinch statue, Aerts is showing his true colors, not the Nguyens'.