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Journal #6: Thanksgiving Haters
While searching for my next blog post topic, I ran across an article titled “In Defense Of... Hating Thanksgiving” by Colin McGuire (http://www.popmatters.com/pm/column/165314-in-defense-of-hating-thanksgiving/), and with the holiday fast approaching I couldn’t refrain from reading what this piece entailed. I was startled to find out the article is basically a hate list of every negative aspect of Thanksgiving! Granted Thanksgiving, just like any other holiday has its downfalls such as those awkward conversations with family members you see maybe once a year, screaming children, travel, and numerous other not so fabulous aspects of the holidays, I think that many of us still seem to enjoy the chance to celebrate ad get together. The bashing of one of the most American holidays actually kind of offended me, probably due to the fact that even with Thanksgivings negative’s, I still find it to be one of the most enjoyable holidays.
On top of getting to reconnect with distant family and relax from life for a while, Thanksgiving is a great reminder to appreciate and be thankful for what we have in our lives. In the article the author mentioned that at no other point in the year do we feel more thankful for the things we have, so how does Thanksgiving Day suddenly empower us to feel so grateful? I think the answer to this is that it has the power to remind us just how lucky many of us are and gives us all a sense of appreciation if we consider the underlying theme of the holiday. In the case that the holiday ends up revolving around family feuds, food, drinking, and football, as it often does, it may be a little tough to bring to the surface the true point of the gathering, but overall I think most people come to the realization at some point during the day that the holiday is more than a tradition of eating and painful family encounters carried on throughout the years, even if it is only brought to their attention by the typical grace given before the meal.
I agree with your feeling of being offended by this hate for Thanksgiving, even though I am sure my family is one of the worst families to have holidays with but no matter what they are still my family. I also think this day is the best day of the year, but we are starting to lose these ideas of thankfullness and gratefullness. So many have much less then us and many seem to forget that. This is an interesting article to say the least!
ReplyDeleteYikes! That guy seems kinda rude to me.. I for one, think Thanksgivings only downfall is the fact that your jeans do not fit the following day. I love being able to give myself the time to actually think about what I am grateful for. And come on.. Who doesn't love delicious mashed potatoes, pie and other Thanksgiving traditions.
ReplyDeleteThough most people do love Christmas, I think Thanksgiving is a great holiday to celebrate. People are so busy that they do need a break to be able to spend time with family and friends. I hope that people remember this is a day of thanks and to be thankful for what we do have.
ReplyDeleteThanksgiving is a great holiday to celebrate; however, in America I think it is the only country where people are thankful for what they have one day and the next the go black Friday shopping being extremely greedy. It's a thought my family and I had while we were out early Friday morning shopping.
ReplyDelete