Turkey? In November?

Thanksgiving, it's a very good thing indeed!

This has been a bit of a big week in the States…its been Thanksgiving!

This is not a holiday I have ever given any thought to, but its one I have decided I really quite like.  In short, on the last Thursday of November Americans give thanks, just for being American.

How good is that?  A holiday simply to celebrate ones national identity; where the entire nation stops and comes together in shared celebration and where families travel across this massive continent, just to be with one another.  

We have nothing comparable in the UK.  All the holidays we celebrate, with the exception of the piss up that is New Year, are all faith based. Our national days don’t bring us together and neither, really, do our religious days.  Wouldn’t it be good to have a single day where we can celebrate just who we are, together?

Thanksgiving is also a low expectation holiday, by which I mean togetherness with those one loves is all that’s expected.  There are no presents, just joining together to celebration being American that’s all there is.

Part of the reason, I think people like this holiday is whilst its so collective it is also an individual time to reflect on how personal American dreams are going.  That for me also helps contribute to the optimism I’ve found here.  Everyone seems to have some stake in the American dream and they respect each other for it.  Of course there is ambition here, thats obvious wherever one goes, of course there is rivalry but it all seems to be on an equal footing.  Nobody here ‘kens yer faither’.  Everyone seems to get a fair pop at whatever they are trying out for, regardless of where they started.  There is no, or at least very little, side to the Americans I’ve met with and the America I’ve seen.  

This is the most inclusive holiday I can think of;  it’s a celebration everyone can get behind and, I think, thats a really good thing.

I was privileged to spend the day with the family of a colleague from Mason.  The turkey was fantastic, the beer flowed and, most importantly, the craic was mighty.  Which included watching the Turkey Bowl - the traditional NFL games that are played on Thanksgiving and a fantastic ‘documentary’ called ‘When Turkeys Attack’. Check it out, scary stuff!!

I’m grateful for having had the opportunity to have shared significant this day with a lovely family; it was a day I really enjoyed.

Thanksgiving just for being who you are and what you have achieved, in a country you love, seems, to me to be a really positive thing.

Stick it to the man

Its not all turkey and sweet potatoes though, The Man is strong here!  And Black Friday is where he is strongest!  

It called this as the day regularly results in death an injury to shoppers looking to grab a bargain - 9 deaths since 2006!  The date of Black Friday is the day off after the last holiday before Christmas, which is almost as bad as the Linlithgow marches being on the first Tuesday after the second Thursday in June…go figure!  

If you can imagine the Boxing Day sales BEFORE the presents have been bought…survival of the fittest.  I enjoyed it from the armchair with laptop in hand.  

One of the issues here is that some stores are now opening at 1600 on Thanksgiving, thus depriving their staff of the full day off in the name of profit.  This gives some competitors the opportunity to take the moral high ground letting the world know they are caring employers who guarantee the holiday of their staff, oh, and who will most definitely be open on Black Friday, so you can come on down then!  Its interesting too to se that despite opening on the holiday, the retailers who did only moved the sales they expected to make by a day, they did not increase those sales…day off next year?

I think the opening on Thanksgiving is a bit of a shame, it would be a pity to see this holiday, and all it represents, further eroded by commercialism even in this most commercial of nations.

How much for gas officer?

I went to pay my gas bill (domestic not petrol) today, no great story there, however the lady who took my money over the counter was a police sergeant.  How did I know that?  Well because she was in full uniform!  I knew before I arrived here that the majority of cops have second jobs, but  was surprised that this officer was working for the gas company in full police uniform collecting money.  Whilst I am sure the gas company liked this, as it gave an air of protection to the store and the police department may be happy with it, given the heightened visibility of the service, I did not.  We, of course have officers with second jobs in Scotland, which is absolutely fine.  Carrying out those additional roles in full uniform does not, I feel, promote the service but, rather takes away from the important role policing plays.

Unbiased broadcasting?

I have spent a bit of time watching the news this week.  You know, we sometimes moan about the BBC’s impartiality.  Here pretty much every news channel does the absolute opposite of impartiality by being overtly and openly partial.  Whether you are on the right wing of the right wing or on the left of the right wing (this is also a nations that lacks the political centre ground as we, in the UK, would recognise it) there is a news channel for you.  

Each, in their own ways, are interesting but they do all come with an agenda.  I fell over one show on Fox (think right on the right side of the right wing) called The O’Reilly Factor, which is a news programme.  O’Reilly starts by assuring viewers they are watching ‘spin free reporting’  before spinning it straight off to the right, talking about ‘ultra left democratic senators’!  Amazing.  He also managed to plug his own book for about 15 minuets and, last night, he ran a one hour special previewing the film on JFK about to air on Fox immediately after his show and which was based on his book!  Jackie Bird would never dream of such a thing - spin free? News?  I didn’t think so.

Any Paul Masson there pal?

I bought some wine this week.  I have many vices but drinking wine is not one of them so I was buying it as a gift for my Thanksgiving hosts.  Now, as I see it, back in the UK there is occasionally a shelf for US wine in Asda and a few bottles in Tesco, but never in Waitrose which, I guess gives you an idea about what we think of it.  All I really remember is the Paul Masson Californian Carafe my parents bought to wash down the Steak Dianne and Black Forest Gateaux in the 1970s.  

We clearly got the cheap, lighter fuel flavoured stuff the Americans didn’t want.  So I was not optimistic heading into wine section of Safeways (peppermint tea in hand).  What a mega surprise I got!  Not a European wine in sight and only a token bottle of New Zealand white.  The place was festooned with high quality American wines of all colours and flavours.  It seems, in common with their beer policy, Americans only export the mass produced rubbish to us and, evidently, keep the good stuff for themselves!  Mrs A arrives in a couple of weeks and I am quite sure she will take it upon herself to carry out broad and detailed research into the various wines available, so stand by for a post Christmas update.

You say tomato

I was in a presentation this week where one of the presenters used the word ‘burglarized’ many times over and was never challenged…is that really a word?  

What I’ve learned this week 

Its a really nice thing to simply be able to give thanks for who and what you are.

Turkeys are to be feared, unless full of stuffing.

Shopping, like turkeys, can cause you serious injury or death.

I miss Jackie Bird

Paul Masson is not the only American to make wine!

As always any thought, feedback or discussion welcome.

Take care

Richie