Happy Thanksgiving, all. May your turkey be juicy and tomorrow's shopping be savings-ful. Yeah, they really go together, don't they? On a day in which millions brave perennially awful transportation gridlock to be with family, count how often the TV in the other room pitches "quality erectile experiences" to you and yours. After saying grace and having the little ones recite what they are thankful for (Game Boy?) before heading off to the kids table, watch how long it takes for discussions to move to what great deals can be had tomorrow morning. Don't eat too much, though, as you might sleep through your
wake up call from Ice-T or Heidi Klum.
And since the holiday season is upon us, many Americans will go to church for the first time in a while. I'd suggest following Reverend Billy this year and worshiping at
the Church of Stop Shopping. If you're in New York, you can even stop by Times Square tomorrow for cash register exorcisms and see the Church "post
9 Theses Against Corporate Rule on the threshold of the Times Square McDonalds, a neon cathedral of perpetual consumption."
But what are you supposed to do if you're not going to shop til you drop on
Buy Nothing Day? Why don't you dig up an
old winter coat that no one is using anymore and bring it to the State House lawn (in the long consumerist shadow of the Providence Place Mall) for someone who could really use it.
I hope everyone has a great holiday. Seriously. I know saying we shouldn't reflexively throw open our wallets on a particular day of the year sounds like me being a scold and a downer, but really I just want everyone to remember there's a lot of great moments to be had today and all next month that don't cost a thing. Now, can someone pass the cranberry sauce?
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Yeehaw, Reverend Billy! Progressive Christian environmentalists who hanker after 18th century yeoman values of thrift and domestic handicrafts look to you in hope!
On Thanksgiving, I:
Helped my mother cook turkey (organic and local)
Ate turkey (yum)
Ate apple pie (yum)
Hung out with dad, mom, sisters, husband and brother-in-law
Watched mediocre movie and two episodes of screamingly funny British TV
Saw old friend from middle school who was visiting her mom a block away.
On Buy Nothing Day, I bought nothing. That I remember. I think Josh bought some food. I also went for a long walk and played a board game with some of the aforementioned relatives.
Yesterday I bought six pounds of organic lamb, two pints of yogurt and a half-gallon of raw milk in Lyme, after going on a hayride, browsing handmade woolen products and eating lamb sausage and curry.
Today I got wet.