Friday, November 27, 2009

"Thanksgiving"

so yesterday i'm sure many of you sat around a fancy schmancy dining room table with your families (bickering or not) and overindulged in turkey and side dishes. i did not. i haven't done it for years- before it became 'hip' to rebel against the so-called 'turkey day'.

why do we have to eat turkey? when i was a kid, it was told to me that the pilgrims ate it, so we have to as well. well, of course, i wondered at the age of 6 why didn't the pilgrims have pizza instead. i mean turkey was ok, but shouldn't we have something super-awesome for a holiday? like pizza? or chocolate cake? nope. it was turkey and blueberry pie- with 1/2 the sugar cause some of my family liked it that way. BO-RING!!!

thanksgiving is such a confusing holiday in this country. and so debated- with one side commemorating the pilgrims' landing at plymouth rock and another just using it as a time to give thanks, when really truly, all they do is engage in gluttonous behavior and bicker with family. doesn't sound like a 'thanksgiving' to me. usually women bust their asses in the kitchen all day to make a meal, probably feeling little thanks is given to them and horrible family pressure to have everything be 'perfect'. to be honest this crap truly disgusts me. it 100% misses the point of giving thanks. it turns into just a day of petty bullshit.

so i celebrate the day very differently from just about everyone i know. i give thanks in a different way. i take the day to do charity work for the homeless. nothing will make you appreciate what you have been blessed with until you look at thousands of people who flock to a turkey dinner, ragged, down-trodden and tired. when you stare deeply into their eyes because it seems the holidays are the only time people remember the unfortunate exist. what about the rest of the year? well, sometimes i make sandwiches for a shelter and drop them off. because people need food everyday, not just thanksgiving and xmas.

for food, well, i eat what i love and am truly thankful for- hot krispy kreme donuts. i pound those damn donuts since it's the only day i allow myself to eat them. i eat about 1 dozen- and am blessed with not gaining a pound. i am VERY grateful for the nice people at krispy kreme. if i'm going to eat something fattening, i'm going to eat things i truly love, one of them is krispy kreme. the good news is while everyone else has turkey coma, i will be wired from sugar and the coffee i have with my cherished donuts. what law says we HAVE to have turkey? what if the food you're truly thankful for is chef boyardee? well, eat it then!

it really brings me great joy to watch the eyes of the unfortunate light up when presented with a hot krispy kreme- something that they probably are hardly ever given. the volunteer i gave them to yesterday marveled that the donuts were still hot and was very happy that someone out there knew just how great it is for once to not eat stale leftovers. this dates back to over 5 years ago when i first moved down south.

back then, i was a broke kid with nothing but an old car and the clothes on my back. it was thanksgiving and with a few bucks and being alone, i decided i'd grab some chicken wings that night, my first meal of the day. so i walked through the ghetto i had moved into to hit the wing place. a couple pulled up in the parking lot in a new black mercedes. the lady driving put the window down. she asked if i was homeless. well, i didn't know what these people had in their heads, so i said, 'what's it to ya?' keeping back from that mercedes, a bit guarded. she asked if i needed food. i told her i was hoping to try to get something to eat (which $4 wasn't going to buy much). she told me she felt blessed and asked me to come over so she could give my something. this offer probably had to do with my small size and being a girl alone in a not so good neighborhood. i was a bit cautious when i started approaching, scared they'd snatch me. well, by the powers that be, that lady gave me a nice amount of $$$!!! can you believe it?! what a saint!!! and she told me happy thanksgiving and the couple drove away. my jaw dropped so hard i would have needed a crane to scoop it up. i profusely thanked those people for this. THIS is the true meaning of thanksgiving- and you can bet your ass i ate damn well that night. i also got a little extra food and gave it to the bums outside the chicken place, figuring one good turn deserved another.

and every year, out of thanks for the kindness of that couple, i give back.