I woke up yesterday and I was in a bad mood.
Not that that's totally different from any other day, really. I mean, come on, who wants to wake up from eight hours of glorious sleep in a comfortable bed? But then again, there are so many things to do, and by being lazy, we miss out on all of those opportunities.
But that's not why I was mad. I was mad because it was Thanksgiving. Now don't get me wrong, read my entire post before you start yelling at your computer about how I live such a decrepid life. I personally love Thanksgiving; I love spending time with family that I haven't seen in months, eating food that will most likely double my weight, and sinking into the big comfy couch that resides at my aunt's house, while I, alongside the men of the house, watch the football games.
But the reason why I don't like Thanksgiving has absolutely nothing to do with my Great Aunt Louise's spinach balls (You know, she keeps telling me that if I want to be in the Coast Guard like Popeye was, I'd better start eating them. I haven't listened to her once.) It's because, to me at least, it's not even considered a holiday anymore; it's only known as the start of a long weekend off from school for kids, a marketing day for television, and most importantly, a timetable for when you can rub elbows with strangers and battle with others like Sinbad and Arnold for the "perfect" Christmas toys.
With all honestly, this disgusts me. First off, there's the mind-boggling. How can a nation like ourselves, who eat a remarkable 675,000,000 lbs. of turkey on Thanksgiving, possibly have the ability to get up from off of the toilet and wobble our way down to Kohl's or Big Lot's? Second off, there's the unimaginable. Why would people wait outside in freezing cold temperatures to buy something for someone that they see two, maybe three, times a year? And lastly, there's the moral. Everyday, we hear people talk about how we need to slow life down and spend more time relaxing with our families. All of us, including myself, listen, agree, and then return to our normal lives. If you truly enjoy the company of your loved ones, which is the basic point of Thanksgiving, then why would you want to leave that peace and harmony to rush down to the store, where you are most likely going to sleep outside in God-awful conditions, wake up bleary-eyed at 4 am, and, being frustrated from your lack of sleep, buy presents for people
in your Scrooge-like state of mind. I don't know about you, but it doesn't sound like an ideal amount of fun for me. Christ, I'd rather eat the spinach balls.
This is just my own opinion. I know that this will go on forever, and there is really no way to fix this. I'm just frustrated at the fact that all year long, we always feel sorry for those who are homeless and have hit bad luck, but yet for one day, one incredibly important day, we leave all of that to engage ourselves in exactly that. Thanksgiving should be a day of relaxing, family bonding, and rejoicing; not a day of big sales, crowds, and bumper to bumper parking lots.
Happy Thanksgiving. Or at least what's left of it.
That's just how I feel.
- Doug
