Thanksgiving Gets Short Shrift
Read more articles on Life's Nuances and Let Me Share With You.November 7, 2006
Posted by Karen Amato Schwartz
November 7, 2006
Posted by Karen Amato Schwartz
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Can you believe Thanksgiving is only 2 weeks away?
At the preschool where I work, we’ve already made our hand-turkeys. We’ve been learning songs for our Thanksgiving Feast, and graced our wall with a turkey that possesses hand-cut tail feathers. The pumpkins are now history.
I have always really liked Thanksgiving, and think it’s a holiday that gets short-shrift. The fact most people don’t get too hyped about it is another ironic part of our lives here in the U.S., a county of much excess that we should be thankful for, instead of considering it our due.
One thing that attracts me to Thanksgiving is the lack of knickknacks compared to other holiday marketing opportunities: there are turkeys, pilgrims, cornucopias, and that’s about it. There’s only so much cutesy home décor that can be made from this theme, in comparison to the slew of Easter pastels and the inundation of never-ending Christmas inventions.
Independence Day is probably as equally non-commercial as Thanksgiving, one may argue, but the parades, fireworks, and red, white and blue attire are still conspicuous everywhere. Aside from the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, I’m aware of no others. Thanksgiving doesn’t even get much of a series of bonus coupon shopping days; no sooner has the turkey cooled off, folks are awakening at the crack of dawn to jump into lines at 5 AM for Christmas sales. As soon as the last crumb of pie is eaten, Thanksgiving is also history, and the mad rush of the yuletide season is underway.
When I see Thanksgiving taking a back seat to Christmas, I feel for it even more. (I’m a huge underdog supporter.) I think that being thankful and focused on what we already have is a higher priority than the anticipation of getting more stuff that we don’t need.
That’s another thing-you don’t have to worry about giving gifts for Thanksgiving. Of course, you can if you want, and most thoughtful dinner guests bring something to share or for the hosts, but that’s not the major emphasis. I mean, kids don’t ask each other, “What did you get for Thanksgiving?” This is a good thing. And I don’t believe I’ve ever worried about sending cards on this holiday…
Plus, you don’t need to have fabulous plans for this holiday, unlike Valentine’s Day when you’re supposed to spend it romantically, or New Year’s Eve, when you’re supposed to be celebrating. It can be a huge affair, or a relatively quiet day, and the sentiment can be there whether you’re in a crowd or alone, dressed in good clothes or jeans.
Actually, the fact that has always fascinated me is that, on this one day alone, the majority of the country’s inhabitants are eating the same food, more or less. There is something very comforting in that knowledge. If we can be unified on that one day, even if it’s about what’s on our plates-in hospitals, prisons, homeless shelters, and mansions-and unified about what we’re thankful of, it’s sort of miraculous.
All in all, Thanksgiving asks very little of us. It’s the most subdued holiday, yet ironically, the most important. The irony continues by Thanksgiving being swept under the rug by football games and Christmas excitement, which isn’t really fair. If Thanksgiving came during the summer, would it get more serious attention?
All we can do is hope that the future generation equates Thanksgiving with being thankful instead of the go-ahead to start listing what they want for Christmas and Hanukkah, but it’s going to be an uphill battle all the way.
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