Sad Turkey
There’s simply no holiday more American than Thanksgiving.
The Fourth of July might give Thanksgiving competition for the most American holiday, but countries around the world celebrate their own independence days with fireworks and parades, just as we do. Nowhere else is there a day dedicated to cooking a giant turkey and pigging out with family — that’s truly American.
So then why isn’t there more fanfare around Thanksgiving?
If you’re not convinced Thanksgiving is underappreciated, just look at this university’s calendar: two days off to spend with family, and then it’s back to school the very next Monday. If Thanksgiving were held to the same level of adoration as the December holidays (namely Christmas), we’d get at least a week. Even spring break grants us more time off.
Despite the country’s push for secularity, religious holidays have traditionally been the major ones and dictate much of the vacation calendar. The nation’s historical relationship to Christianity has made Christmas and Easter our staple celebrations, even if they’ve become completely secular for many people. Thanksgiving, however, is a mostly secular holiday that brings people of all cultures and religions together. Even so, it’s unnecessarily overshadowed.
There are other reasons Thanksgiving doesn’t get an equal fuss. It has few symbols. Yes, turkey and pie, but those are foods. There isn’t nearly the vast array of objects Christmas has — bells, angels, trees, ornaments, snowmen, Santa and reindeer, need I go on?
Plus, there’s the football distraction. Many people spend their mornings tossing around the pigskin in the backyard, going to a game or watching one on TV after dinner. Few would head out to the field on Christmas Day. On the holiday dedicated to family, people happily take time out for other things — sports, and of course, shopping.
It’s a sad fact that Black Friday (does it even deserve to be capitalized?) has gotten too full for its own day and puked all over Thanksgiving. Many stores open on Thursday evening and some stay open all night, so by the time Black Friday rolls around, unless you ditched the out-of-town guests, you missed it. That’s right: Head out to the game in the morning, squeeze in a quick bite to eat and then, hit the stores, because the only thing more American than turkey with the fam is commercialism.
Which brings us to the final and perhaps saddest reason Thanksgiving is underappreciated: It’s not as commercialized. Sure you can buy paper turkey decorations and pilgrim hats, but much of the merchandise is for the season in general — leaves, pumpkins and things that blur into Halloween. In fact, after the ghosts and ghouls phase is over, the trees are up and the Christmas music is playing. It’s funny — in a pathetic way — that Halloween, dedicated to dressing up and eating candy, has far more “things” that come along with it (costumes, witches, black cats, jack-o’-lanterns), and when that’s all over it’s time for Christmas.
As a society, we love holidays that sell. And by its very nature, Thanksgiving doesn’t fit. That’s why we’ve tacked Black Friday onto it. We prefer the holidays that give us candy to the ones that ask us to make a pie from scratch. We want our celebration to be big and loud, but Thanksgiving’s power is quiet. Its beauty lies not in the things we can buy, but in the simplicity of time spent with those we love.
