Turkey Day or Giving Thanks?

Thanksgiving has yet again come and gone. Four days ago, (as I write this) millions of families gathered together on Thursday evening to enjoy each others company (hopefully), eat too much turkey (probably) and other wonderful foods, and watch multiple football games.

I enjoy Thanksgiving; it’s one of the few times a year that my entire family gets together under one roof and the only time when it’s perfectly normal and socially acceptable to eat food like there’s no tomorrow. I love going to Grandma’s house and chilling with my extended family, it’s awesome. I’ve learned to appreciate it more in that last couple of years now that my grandparents are beginning to dwindle in health and in number, and because I get to travel home from school after being away for three months. I am very thankful for the opportunity to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family.

That being said, there are several things that I dislike about this particular holiday (here comes the rant). I hate how Thanksgiving is just not that memorable anymore. The day goes by very quickly, mostly because the day is spent preparing food, eating way too much, watching football and then sleeping off the inevitable food-coma that ensues. “Don’t forget to eat dinner early because Black Friday deals at Wal-Mart starts at 7pm.” Sleep in, catch the end of the Macy's parade, eat a lot, and watch TV. Thanksgivings tend to blur together for me. I couldn’t tell you what made last year’s turkey day different from this year’s (except that a certain cousin was home from Boston last year) because they’re all the same. I wish Thanksgiving was a unique event but it’s really not. The exact same thing happens every year and I find myself taking this holiday for granted.

You remember the circumstances of the original Thanksgiving right? Yeah, yeah, you say, we all learned about that in the fourth grade. Good, I’m not going to recount that history lesson again. I feel that Thanksgiving has fallen very far from what it was originally intended to be, like so many other things in this American culture. Thanksgiving today is simply another stepping stone in the calendar to get to Christmas and the official start of the holiday shopping season. Even then, Christmas shopping is starting earlier and earlier every year; stores are putting up decorations the day after Halloween and radio stations are playing Christmas music weeks before Thanksgiving in an attempt to prepare people for the holidays sooner and elongate the shopping season.

Just like every other major holiday, Thanksgiving has been commercialized so much so that it no longer carries the value that it used to. Thanksgiving is no longer about family or being together or truly being thankful for the ones we loves and the things we have. It's an excuse to watch football, over-eat, and then shop all night into the morning and the rest of the following day. I don't know what your particular family does for Thanksgiving; maybe you guys do it different. But for me and other people I know, this is most definitely the case. Thanksgiving is now acceptable gluttony (don't even get me started on the atrocities of Black Friday). I too am guilty of this sin. We all are.

"But Thanksgiving is more than eating, Chuck. You heard what Linus was saying out there. Those early Pilgrims were thankful for what had happened to them, and we should be thankful, too. We should just be thankful for being together. I think that's what they mean by 'Thanksgiving,' Charlie Brown."

Nothing like some Charlie Brown to remind us of the real reason for the season.