In the United States, there are few holidays as celebrated and highly regarded as Thanksgiving Day. Also known as Turkey Day and Mass Slaughter of Unsightly Fowls Day, this is the time of year where families and treasured acquaintances gather over the promise of baked turkey, mashed potatoes and pie, and share what they're thankful for. Having no family around me, I freeloaded a dinner at my dad's old friend's gathering and partook in the festivities as a persona known as Depraved Exotic Foreign Student Who's Never Had Thanksgiving, to their American friends at least.
According to the knowledgeable (and definitely highly accurate Wikipedia), "The event that Americans commonly call the "First Thanksgiving" was celebrated to give thanks to God for helping the Pilgrims survive their first brutal winter in New England." The day that Americans celebrate Thanksgiving, on the third Thursday of November, was declared 'Thanksgiving Day' by then-President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. How turkeys got singled out for this mass slaughter is not made very clear, for I had seen a whole list of poultry from the 'First Thanksgiving' they could have picked from, though I suppose people just wanted an excuse to off these monstrous looking birds.
Although we didn't do the 'go round the table and say what you're thankful for' thing at that particular gathering, I know there's a lot to be thankful for in my life and I don't need a Thanksgiving Day to remind me of it. Under different circumstances, I could very well be sloshing through the mud in the humid jungles of Singapore this very moment, hunting down imaginary enemies and swatting real ones from my veins. I am therefore very thankful for my father's unbelievably high-powered brain and resolve that got our family to where it was today, and for setting the stage for my crafty escape from the Ministry of Manpower's evil clutches. So I'll pretend that I enjoy turkey just because y'all army types can't have any. Mmm dry tough meat has never tasted better.
It's not the easiest life I have here, I'd be the first to admit it. True, I escaped national service, but what I'm living through right now really is a different type of hard, with different demands. It's difficult having to physically exert yourself to the brink of your limits, but then you're returning home every so often where you'll receive the attention and support that you need. But is it perhaps more difficult, in a manner, to accomplish something you can be really proud about, and then return home to an apartment of strangers, with no one to share your moment with you? I am unspeakably grateful to the small handful of amazing friends I have made, who didn't let me leave their lives, even though we're physically so far apart. Skype and BlackBerries are obviously far from being able to substitute a real-live presence, but until life sized holograms (in full color too, I will not accept those gaudy green ones) are released to the public, I'm gonna have to make do.
On a more superficial note, I thank the heavens above, and the greedy banks out to suck the life out of the unsuspecting public, for the invention of credit cards. They really can drive you bankrupt (if my mom's warning stories can be believed) if you go crazy with it, but used with discretion and deliberation (much like using tongues when kissing), it can open up your life to that many opportunities. Just that day, I booked Damian and I Class A tickets to see Celine Dion in Vegas next year, all just through keying in a few little numbers.
Convenience like that should not only be taken for granted - it should be exploited, taken advantage of and throughout abused. Online shopping, for instance, lets you find stuff you might not even find if you're personally there at the store. I say this with the utmost confidence of someone with personal experience - I was over at Macy's after watching Burlesque (just go if only to see the striptease), and there I was, running round and round about the place and it's always either the wrong color, or the wrong size, or the wrong price. I settled for some Black Friday deals like $50 Calvin Klein jackets (thankful for that too), but still, I went home disappointed. It was only after I went through Macy's online store did I find everything that I had previously wanted, in all the right sizes and everything, and all right there at my desk.
I guess most of all, I'm thankful for being born into a world of opportunities, incredible technologies and on certain levels, acceptance. While we may not have reached that stage of total elimination of prejudice, we're definitely much closer now than we were just a couple of years ago. That major change could be right round the corner, and I would definitely be thankful to be a witness to that.
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