I like holidays without obligations. That is, perhaps, why Halloween is my favorite holiday of all. You can dress up and act like a fool, or not. Either way, nobody’s going to look at you weirdly. And, I love Thanksgiving, mostly because I am an absolute glutton and there is always plenty of great food.
We live in the Czech Republic and Thanksgiving is not a holiday here so it’s sort of a special event that we do at our school and it often winds up being sort of an international food fair. I remember the year of the great Guacamole competition (I preferred the Venezualan version over the Texan, but they both had their fans and they both got finished), and I must say the best Kimchee I have ever had in my life was at a Thanksgiving dinner.
But I’m thankful to be out of the U.S. and away from people who want everybody to stand up and say what they are thankful for, and everybody gets sloppily sentimental and talks about their family and how much they love everybody. It’s not always terribly sincere.
I once worked for an airline, in the reservations department, and there was always a spike in calls late in the day on Thanksgiving, from people who suddenly needed to change their reservations to fly home early. They flew halfway across the continent to be with their families, and within the course of one meal were reminded of why they moved 2,000 miles away in the first place.
I don’t want to sound ungrateful. I’ve got a great life. A beautiful, young wife who does everything for me, including the shopping. Two smart, good natured children who don’t fight and scream any more than average children. A job that I love, even though it’s not terribly lucrative.
But the biggest thing we all have to be thankful for is simply existence itself. Think about it. 99.99 and a few more 9’s percent of the universe is empty space. Of that which is matter and energy, 99.etc% is inanimate matter. Of that which is living matter, only a small percentage is well developed enough to have any sense of self-awareness.
It’s great to be alive. It’s great to be a human being. The world could be a lot better place than it is, but I’m grateful for that.
www.gurukalehuru.com 
So true. My Psych teacher once said we are lucky to be alive given the multitude of chance combinations for life at conception.
I really like my immediate family – wife, son, granddaughter – and a few close friends, but, even among my siblings, I can’t stand nearly half of them and, after my mother is buried, will declare that they are never to speak to me again. It’s even worse for others, such as police, politicians, rich assholes who rape the earth, and enslave people to put money in their pockets. Fucking stupid Joe Public that follows Fox News and plays right into the hands of the latter rich assholes.
Of course, things could be worse. But I don’t consider myself “lucky” to be alive. I rather envy my dad, who passed away quickly almost two years ago. Life is really simple for him, now, and no one can fuck him over ever again. Plus, he doesn’t have to listen to stupid shit like that anchor on Fox News who said that pepper spray is little more than a food additive; a condiment, almost. Ergo, those protesters were just big pussies for crying about being sprayed, which begs the question, “Why do police use the stuff if it’s no big deal?”
Pop, you got it easy… Happy Thanksgiving.
I went to two of your Thanksgiving parties, and really enjoyed the camaraderie and sharing. Your airline reservation story made me laugh out loud and read it to my husband. You’re right, some of us are lucky enough to really enjoy our lives, unfortunately sometimes we need to take a step back to realize.
Just got back. I think I won’t need to eat for 3 days. Standout dishes were the pumpkin soup (Czech), the apple strudel (multiple entries), mushroom quiche (Russian) and coconut pancakes (Indonesia).
Saw some people I hadn’t seen for a long time, met some interesting new people. Kids had fun. It was all good.