Thank this Again

Here's what we wrote about Thanksgiving last year:

It is our understanding that Europeans really don't get American Thanksgiving.

It's easy.

A year after arriving at Plymouth Rock, the Pilgrims gave a feast of thanks for surviving. At some point the Indians showed up out of the woods and joined them. Judging by the account from which the holiday derives, Of Plymouth Plantation, the Indians heard a commotion and checked in to see if everything was alright. Upon seeing the Indians, the Pilgrims, who had by this time already knocked a few back, invited the natives to join them.

Now it's important to understand something about New England. That's the North Atlantic it lies on, people. The entire coast is lashed by winds off the frigid, cruel sea. The winters are tough with long months of sub zero (in Celsius) temperatures and lots of snow. The air is crisp and biting. Even in the summer time the temp can dip into the 50's (in right-American Fahrenheit) at night. They play a lot of hockey up there.  The isle of Corfu it aint.

Thanksgiving is a secular holiday, no priest, pastor, minister, rabbi, imam or shaman is needed.  But there are deeply religious overtones and lunch is usually begun with a prayer. A turkey is customary but not mandatory. At the Irish Thanksgivings we've attended there must have been ten different vegetables. We believe sweet potatoes topped with marshmallows are a dish served across the United States. These are good. The Southern Man may well include a sweet-ham at his table, and rightfully so. We bet an Italian-American thanksgiving has the best spread. Jews keep it traditional though, and if you knew anything about the Passover table spread, you'd understand why. Two words: gefilte fish.

The NFL broadcasts a couple of games, and these are also Thanksgiving traditions. They're usually on in the background. The notion of Thanksgiving political discussions has become a 'thing' and it does happen. We suppose the tradition arises from freshman college students coming home to enlighten their retrograde relatives. Guilty as charged. Only morons bring up politics at the table, especially in our family. At Thanksgiving: 2016 we told one silly Donald Trump joke, non-political in the extreme and even that risked a conflagration. The last Thanksgiving political massacre we recall occurred during the 2000 Florida recount in which Algore tried to steal the election.

Most people get Thursday and Friday off, making for a nice long weekend, except for those poor souls in retail. So begins the Christmas season. Yes, we think the Black Friday thing has gotten completely out of hand. What used to be a shopping day brought on by circumstance has become an obscene expression of frenzied, sharp-elbowed competition. We loath it and we loath the corporations that open their stores at midnight. 

Shame on them.