Master and Commander
Posts: 2254
Location: Foothills of the Ozarks | Subject: Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you.
May your homes be filled with family and friends.
Doc
I'll take Thanksgiving!
You can have Halloween, New Year's, Christmas, Fourth of July, Easter,
Hanukkah and any day dedicated to presidents. You can stack them all up on
one side, and the turkey and I will stand on the other.
I'll take Thanksgiving!
It is, to me, exactly what a holiday should be. For one thing, there are no
gifts. You never have to worry about what to get someone for Thanksgiving or
how much to spend. There are no lectures about "greed" or
"commercialization" or how we're "forgetting the spirit" of Thanksgiving. No
way. The spirit of Thanksgiving is eating. Who could forget that?
Secondly, it comes with football. What other holiday does that, New Year's
Day, but at least with Thanksgiving, you don't have a hangover.
There is no "right" place to go on Thanksgiving except home. There is no
church or synagogue. No graves that must be visited. No trekking out to
watch fireworks.
You just sit on the couch, or sit at the table, and you laugh and eat and
laugh and burp and ta-da you are credited with knowing the "true meaning" of
the holiday.
Also, it comes with a parade. Did I mention the dressing? Not the turkey
dressing; the human dressing. There isn't any! Oh, sure, maybe you put on a
nice pair of pants. Maybe. But who really dresses up for Thanksgiving? You
can celebrate in a sweatshirt. Can you say that about New Year's Eve? Not
unless you're a lonely, pathetic loser.
And Thanksgiving doesn't require some smarty-pants history known only by
your geeky cousin from Baltimore. Uh-uh. There's no quoting Lincoln or
Washington. No reading from the Declaration of Independence. What do you
need to know about Thanksgiving? The Pilgrims and the Indians had dinner.
Pass the gravy!
Thanksgiving never moves. It is always on a Thursday, strategically placed
so that you might as well take off Friday also, since Saturday and Sunday
are next, and, while you're at it, maybe half of Wednesday just to pick up
everyone from the airport. Thanksgiving gets you half a week off. What does
Labor Day get you, Monday?
And there is no shopping on Thanksgiving, unlike Memorial Day or Presidents
Day. Sure, there are Thanksgiving sales, but you do them on FRIDAY! How cool
is that?
Also, there are no masks. You don't beg for candy from strangers. And nobody
eggs your house.
Have I mentioned stuffing? There is no more celebratory food short of
dessert than stuffing. Be honest. When you were young, you couldn't get
enough of it, right? Maybe you hated cranberry sauce, but all kids loved
stuffing. It was everything great about bread and pudding and hot, mushy
food wrapped into one. Tell me you don't still feel that.
Tell me there's anything better than a meal that goes all night, that
doesn't have an event tied to it, that doesn't come with a bill at the end.
Tell me there's anything better than only having to catch up with your
aunts, uncles and cousins to feel like you did the holiday proud.
Tell me there's anything easier than passing plates.
Tell me there's any better place to appreciate what you have than in a
kitchen filled with good smells. Especially Sylvia's "homemade" yeast
rolls!
Tell me there's a better invention than "the kids' table."
And what holiday not only condones but pretty much expects you to fall
asleep on the couch?
So let's sum up. No costumes, no presents, no services, no tuxedoes, no time
limit, no guilt trips, and all the food, naps and football you want.
I'll take "Thanksgiving"!
After all, no one tries to sit on the turkey's lap and ask for an X-box!
I'll take "Thanksgiving"!
--Mitch Albom --Detroit Free Press
__._,_.___
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Check out AOL Money & Finance's list of the hottest products and top money wasters of 2007. |
Thanksgiving
