Putting Turkey Day Where It Belongs
By Patrick Barnard
We celebrate Christmas before we celebrate Thanksgiving.
We celebrate Christmas MORE than we celebrate Thanksgiving, even though it’s a Christian holiday and we’re not all Christians, and even though Thanksgiving is way more interesting!
Less than two weeks into November, we had already seen everything that is Christmas-related. Everything. Christmas-themed commercials, Christmas-themed snacks, Christmas music and Christmas decorations. When on Earth will this premature Christmas celebrating end?
OK, maybe not everyone agrees that Thanksgiving is more interesting than Christmas. I am not going to argue over which holiday is better. I just want to remind Knight Nation about something we should all know. Thanksgiving may not have gifts for everyone or classic songs we all know and love, as Halloween and Christmas do. But is there any other major holiday in America that is so food-oriented? I don’t think so! We’re talking food!
Not many other holidays revolve around both interacting with extended families and stuffing your face with food. Roasted turkey and stuffing, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, green bean casserole and cranberry sauce… what’s not to celebrate? The leftovers alone are enough to fill up your fridge and have their own holiday!
And don’t forget about the perils of political discourse between family members who haven’t seen each other in awhile, and who live in different worlds. Some of us find this humorous. Others allow the anticipation alone to spike their blood pressure. Aunts and uncles discussing political stories on television and cousins debating stories in The Onion. Be honest. It’s more acceptable at Thanksgiving than at Christmas.
What about the football games? If you’re lucky, someone in the room doesn’t like Tom Brady and wants the rest of us to know it.
There is also Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York, viewed from the comfort of our homes, floats and performances that go on forever. Singers, dancers, and the parade floats based on popular kid shows … the Thanksgiving Day Parade always has something to offer to everyone.
If you prefer scheduling Christmas before Thanksgiving, you would have to kiss your pumpkin spiced-food, cider, high school football games, and colorful scenery goodbye. Thanksgiving is here to help you enjoy the fruits of fall just a little bit longer
.
We should all slow down to enjoy Thanksgiving, each other, and life in general. We rush to get to work and get home from work, we rush our children with everything, we rush the people making our coffee in the coffee shops in the morning … and we gulp the coffee. We rush so much that we forget how to slow down and enjoy the things that are present and important to us — like, for instance, Thanksgiving Day.
Christmas can wait. Really.
By Patrick Barnard
We celebrate Christmas before we celebrate Thanksgiving.
We celebrate Christmas MORE than we celebrate Thanksgiving, even though it’s a Christian holiday and we’re not all Christians, and even though Thanksgiving is way more interesting!
Less than two weeks into November, we had already seen everything that is Christmas-related. Everything. Christmas-themed commercials, Christmas-themed snacks, Christmas music and Christmas decorations. When on Earth will this premature Christmas celebrating end?
OK, maybe not everyone agrees that Thanksgiving is more interesting than Christmas. I am not going to argue over which holiday is better. I just want to remind Knight Nation about something we should all know. Thanksgiving may not have gifts for everyone or classic songs we all know and love, as Halloween and Christmas do. But is there any other major holiday in America that is so food-oriented? I don’t think so! We’re talking food!
Not many other holidays revolve around both interacting with extended families and stuffing your face with food. Roasted turkey and stuffing, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, green bean casserole and cranberry sauce… what’s not to celebrate? The leftovers alone are enough to fill up your fridge and have their own holiday!
And don’t forget about the perils of political discourse between family members who haven’t seen each other in awhile, and who live in different worlds. Some of us find this humorous. Others allow the anticipation alone to spike their blood pressure. Aunts and uncles discussing political stories on television and cousins debating stories in The Onion. Be honest. It’s more acceptable at Thanksgiving than at Christmas.
What about the football games? If you’re lucky, someone in the room doesn’t like Tom Brady and wants the rest of us to know it.
There is also Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York, viewed from the comfort of our homes, floats and performances that go on forever. Singers, dancers, and the parade floats based on popular kid shows … the Thanksgiving Day Parade always has something to offer to everyone.
If you prefer scheduling Christmas before Thanksgiving, you would have to kiss your pumpkin spiced-food, cider, high school football games, and colorful scenery goodbye. Thanksgiving is here to help you enjoy the fruits of fall just a little bit longer
.
We should all slow down to enjoy Thanksgiving, each other, and life in general. We rush to get to work and get home from work, we rush our children with everything, we rush the people making our coffee in the coffee shops in the morning … and we gulp the coffee. We rush so much that we forget how to slow down and enjoy the things that are present and important to us — like, for instance, Thanksgiving Day.
Christmas can wait. Really.