Thanksgiving, BRAINCHEESE style...

As we Americans roll upon the Monday before the Thursday we call "Thanksgiving", I do not venture out to the grocery store. That's because since Friday evening, the grocery stores have been packed with people, shopping in preparation for the "feast". It's tradition, doncha know? Husbands, wives, grandparents, children, aunts, uncles, partners, friends, siblings, etc., have ALL been making those last minute preparations/shopping lists in anticipation of the gorge-yourself-til-you-puke-tryptophan-induced coma we call "Thanksgiving".

My Thanksgiving tradition will be the typical one I celebrate each year...I will be at work...where it is safe...where I *belong*. Only occasionally over the past several years have I varied this tradition...a few times I have been assistant to the head chef of a friend's household, but I have personally not prepared a Thanksgiving turkey in many years. I like to spend my holiday at work.

I'd also like to say my tradition of being at work is purely altruistic. As a matter of fact, I HAVE said this before under my breath! When coworkers who are also parents beg to be off work for the holiday, I have stepped in like a perfect martyr and "volunteered" to work in their place...I don't have children or family, so it IS the right thing to do...right?!?

But if the truth be known (and I'm about to disclose it here), my motive is purely SELF-SERVING. Yep, that's right. I'm really not doing anyone a favor, but for myself! You see, if I am at work, no one expects me to cook, plan a meal, shop for food, or do ANY of the usual things one might do at Thanksgiving...and often, friends "feel sorry" for me and invite me to THEIR table. Because...I have to work. I end up getting paid a butt load of money (from my job...seriously...why did you THINK I would be paid on Thanksgiving?!?) AND I often get a free meal!! All that is usually required of me is a bit of dishpan hands when the cleanup of the feast begins...hehe. It is an EXCELLENT way to spend the holiday...deviant, but most excellent. LOL

I don't think MY Thanksgiving tradition is really what the pilgrims had in mind. And don't get me wrong...I am THANKFUL to be employed and also THANKFUL to have any friend willing to invite me into their home (I'm not fit for public consumption most days). I am also not ANTI-family/tradition/celebration/sharing/thanks giving...I used to celebrate/honor the holiday with a big feast also. But the typical Thanksgiving tradition most Americans seem to celebrate these days appears to have lost much of its beginning meaning. As I've aged, I find it difficult to wrap my brain around an abundance of food, football, shopping, and alcohol. I prefer to spend my "thanksgiving" privately...without traditional consumerism...and...well...give thanks. Which is something I can do ANY day of the year, not just the 3rd Thursday of the month of November.