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Turkey Day
by James Glaser
No guilt today. A person can eat two, three, maybe four or five thousand calories, and say to themselves, well it is Thanksgiving. I can never remember having just one helping, and even if I did, there is never enough room on the plate to have a little of everything. Besides, turkey is healthy and so are those sweet potatoes, and I don't think mashed potatoes ever hurt anyone. When I think about it, everything we put in the stuffing is good for you, and when you cover the plate with gravy, heck it is almost as nutritious as a smoothie. . . . I said almost. Usually after eating that thanksgiving meal and saving a little bit of room for desert, I start thinking of myself as "pig boy." It happens every year, after the meal I start to suffer just a little bit, but I always seem to have a bit more room for whatever is presented with the coffee. I really think some of our meals would kill third world citizens of the world. It takes Americans years to stretch out their stomachs enough to handle our annual feast, but in America Thanksgiving is just one feast of many we have every year. Christmas is always a big family meal, and Forth of July picnics can get out of hand, too. Every birthday and anniversary is celebrated with food, and I can almost smell that Easter ham. Americans don't even need a big holiday to pig out. Every Sunday afternoon many families get together around the dining room table and celebrate. I guess we are celebrating that it is Sunday. Most Americans have no idea of how good we have it. Our neighbor to the south, Mexico, is a poor country compared to ours, but few Americans visit down there and usually when they do, they stay at some high class resort and yes, they eat like kings. Canadians live about like we do. Real third world countries are out of sight and out of mind for most Americans. Living in the land of the free gives a lot to be thankful for. I always think that floors are nice. Almost all Americans have a floor to walk on in their home, but that isn't true for billions in this world. For many the floor is made of hard packed dirt. We almost all have indoor plumbing, electricity, screens on our windows, and windows. American homes are heated when it is chilly or cold, and the majority are cooled when it gets too hot. If we live a few floors up, we can take an elevator instead of the steps, and most people who don't have a car, don't have one by choice. The poor in America can be considered part of the rich of the world. We Americans are blessed, and we should be thankful. We have done nothing to deserve what we have other than being born here. Our country and everything great about it was given to us by our parents and their parents, all the way back to 1776. They gave it all to us, and all we have to do is preserve it so we can pass it down to our children. Some people in Washington think we have to make big changes, and we have to give up many of our freedoms to keep what we have. Those before us had troubles and tribulations, but they always managed to keep our freedom, and I am thankful for that. I hope fifty years from now, my grandchildren will be thankful for the things I am thankful for. I even hope they eat too much on Turkey Day |
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