Thanksgiving – The Rodney Dangerfield of Holidays

On Sunday afternoon my daughter and I were driving to her Fall Women’s Chorale concert – she’s an Alto I/Soprano II for those inquiring minds – and discussing the hot topics of the day when she commented that Thanksgiving is becoming a forgotten holiday.

December holiday decorations are already up. Santa has presided over the lighting of the tree at the foot of the Allen Street Mall downtown.

Commercials for gift-giving holiday purchases are rampant. Yet we still have a little over a week until Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving gets no respect. It disappeared and no one even looked for it.

Now I love the holiday season as much as anyone – and growing up in a Catholic household means we celebrated Christmas like nobody’s business. My wife and kids know I’m ready for Christmas when my holiday mix CD’s start showing up in our cars (yes I still use CD’s).

Then we set our schedules around showings of the Grinch (please, the original cartoon version) so I can recite the lines. Isn’t Max the cutest dog ever? Trivia question – how old is the Grinch?

A quick aside here … if you run in to Barbara Korner this holiday season – she’s the outstanding dean of the College of Arts and Architecture at Penn State – be sure to ask her for a few of your favorite Grinch lines. She knows the entire book by heart – my kind of Dean! (Heck, if she had been the dean when I was a student I probably would have gotten that architecture degree! OK, maybe not …)

But, back to Thanksgiving…

Early in my career I spent a number of years in the retail business – electronics – that lived and died by 4th quarter results. Any one of a number of days between Thanksgiving Day and New Year’s Day could generate as much revenue as an entire month earlier that year. Back then Thanksgiving Day was sacred – everything closed. No matter how early or late your stores opened the day before or after, Thanksgiving Day was untouched by commerce. Even the very few 24-hour stores that existed closed. Which reminds me of a Steven Wright joke – “Your store’s closed but your sign says ‘Open 24 Hours.’” “Not in a row.”

Then slowly Black Friday started creeping up on Thanksgiving. We used to know which retailers were having bad years because they were the ones to announce the craziest hours. Retail maxim: not selling enough? Stay open more. Why? Because, of course, the reason people aren’t shopping at your store is you’re not open long enough.

Nowadays Black Friday has crept right up to Thanksgiving’s doorstep and kicked it in. You can shop in lots of stores on Thanksgiving Day. Why, even the beloved Macy’s in Herald Square opens just hours after the last balloon has passed by in the Thanksgiving Day parade.

The funny thing is Thanksgiving really is an American holiday that best defines the spirit of the season. It’s about giving thanks for the bountiful gifts that nature offers us. And specifically in this country – the United States of America, a melting pot for the world – it has a very non-denominational nature that is available for all to celebrate regardless of affiliation. Something that our politically-correct holiday season struggles with as society strives to be as inclusive as possible.

Native American celebrations – complete with meals and mirth – were part of their cultures from ancient times, and giving thanks for a successful harvest was a perfect reason for revelry. Europeans had done much the same thing for centuries. Early Thanksgivings were commemorated in this country in Florida, Texas, Maine and Virginia by Spanish explorers and other English colonists long before the Pilgrims arrived in this new land.

But as I’m fond of quoting the line from The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance: “When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.” Despite earlier incarnations, the Mayflower, the Pilgrims, and those days in Plymouth, MA in the fall of 1621 serve as the birth and touchstone for what became a uniquely American Thanksgiving holiday.

So how do we give this wonderful holiday the respect it deserves? How do we show our thanks and gratitude for the fruits of our labors and celebrate with feasting and sport?

Well, as much as I would like to suggest that you not rush out for that special deal that’s only available while supplies last starting at 6 p.m., I won’t.

What I will suggest is that you simply be thankful. Take a few minutes to stop, look and listen. Stop and just be. Look at the wonder of the world around you. Listen to the voice in your heart. Remind yourself that you are not thankful because you are happy, you are happy because you are thankful. The mental act of being thankful provides benefits to you and everyone else. Gratefully receive all that life has to offer.

And then, sure, go shop if you must!

Oh, and how old is the Grinch? Why, for fifty-three years he’s put up with it now.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

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