Wednesday, November 26, 2014

celebrate like a human

On this side of the pond and in a portion of North America* a large number of people are dedicating a long weekend to gluttony, sloth, rampant consumerism, and the voyeuristic.  Yep, it's Thanksgiving time again!

The roots of this holiday are in the harvest festivals of the Old World as well as certain events over here that have been iconified with time and propagandization.  It's no wonder that certain Native American groups are just nauseated by the First Thanksgiving Reenactment concept, given the kind of treatment they got afterward, during and even before this period, but we'll put "rank ingratitude and abuse" on the back burner for now....

Its very name, implying our innate desire to thank "God" for aiding us in our mischief, is a little archaic as well as being as ridiculous as many of the weekend activities.  How much deity-thanking is going to go on over the next four days, do you think?  I imagine the vast majority is going to be in the vein of "THANK GOD, they're finally leaving!" or "THANK GOD, WE're finally leaving!" or "THANK GOD, Uncle Joe didn't drink as much this year...."  Oh, sure, religiously-heterogeneous families will bow their heads and formally thank JESUS for the food -- I never quite understood the reason for that permutation -- but even if the prayer lasts a couple of minutes, it's unlikely that the thought and attitude will linger after the turkey begins to be passed.

An appalling amount of the religious fervor in the USA is of the sentimental and window-dressing sort.  Oh, yes, I know a lot of good, kind people who are heart-felt Christians, but they'd be just as good and kind if they were Muslims or Buddhists or atheists, as far as that's concerned.  It's just EASY to be a Christian here, no matter what the Dumfuckistani say.  Nevertheless, people who haven't been in a church in years will bow their heads to thank a deity they really don't believe in, because they're guilted into it by their mothers, or their small children, or their own consciences.

This is usually the point at which we need to exert ourselves to celebrate like an actual Human Being, as opposed to being an Ass or a Swine or a Bull or ... you get the idea.

Some people seem to LIVE to be unpleasant and confrontational.  The sympathetic might say that they're just so unhappy, they have to rain on everyone-else's parade, and we should pity them;  there's a certain amount of truth in that, but it's a damned bad excuse.  There are other possible explanations, too, an esoteric one being that they are psychically fed by the emotion they stir up -- i'm inclined to believe this.  They are SUCH jerks that their own nuclear families dislike them, and they don't receive the subtle vibes (usually described exoterically as "love" or "support") that we all thrive on.  That's why they stir up NEGATIVE energy -- it's better than the NONE they're accustomed to receiving from their "loved ones" as well as society in general.

If you have someone of this type to deal with, for the sake of the rest of the family (especially "Mom" or "Grandma," for whom this truly is a special day, and who has busted her butt in the kitchen for the last few days preparing for it) -- I suggest you google things like "how to make an asshole shut up" and get yourself a stable of replies to their provocative BS.  Being provocative in reply doesn't work -- and distresses your hostess!  (I'm putting things in feminine terms only because a lot of "moms" are the ones who have worked hard to make the event possible, though there are many men who fulfill the role in other families....)

It behooves us to show consideration to those who truly DO provide the dinner, in a physical sense.  Whether or not you believe in a Supreme Being, your host/hostess didn't just wave a magic wand to make things happen -- they invested time, money, and energy to bring about a social gathering which SHOULD be as rewarding to them as it is to your stomach and taste-buds!  If google-sourced attempts to make Aunt GINny behave aren't sufficiently effective, you might want to take her aside and tell her that behaving like to bitch to the Founder of the Feast is going to result in her roasting in hell for all eternity. :-D  Cuz, you know, "faith without works is dead."

My husband and I will be spending a quiet holiday together, roasting a duck and enjoying low-carb versions of classic dishes.  From us to all of you -- a happy Harvest Home, Thanksgiving, Turkey-Day ... however you want to term a celebration of good food and good company!
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* It never ceases to amaze me how so many residents of the USA conveniently forget that North America isn't all about us.  :-)  I could go on and on, but....

24 comments:

  1. your on a rampage, darlin! LOL (I think my post today, at least parts of it, goes hand-in-hand with yours. You will LOL I think when you read parts of it...) ;)

    Happy Thanksgiving!

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    1. thanks! :-) ...yes, i thought the same when i read your post -- have you ever noticed that we seem inclined to post at the same time ever day? synchronicity....

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  2. It's going to be just me and my mother. The asshole relatives who do nothing but stir up trouble and make messes for other people to pay for and clean up aren't invited.

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    1. i hope you two have a wonderful holiday! peaceful, cheerful.... when we CAN exclude the downers and trouble-makers, what a pleasure it is.

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    2. We're having hot wings and sweet potato fries. That's fine with me!

      Oh and the relatives? Good little church-going Mormons. The situation has gotten so bad that Mom and I are seeing an attorney for protection from them. They lied to the county that I was abusing my mother and have broken their necks trying to get control of Mom's bank accounts. "Family is everything," my eye.

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    3. When my father died almost 27 years ago, many of his close relatives behaved so greedy, that my mom and me stopped any connections with them. My mom told me it was probably the best decision in her life - they were never up to her liking, and their greediness just made them to finally cross the line.

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    4. Lori, it's appalling that you're having to go through all that ... dealing with jerks that have the audacity to consider themselves "good people." :-( i'm happy to say, the Mormons I knew when we lived in Salt Lake City (and retain as friends still) are wonderful people!

      Galina, i'm glad she had the toughness to dump them! too often, people stay in contact with some they SHOULDN'T because of a misguided desire to keep families together. :-P people who don't BEHAVE like a family should, don't deserve the consideration.

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    5. It took a couple of my no-good cousins STEALING MOM'S JEWELRY BOX for her to finally write 'em off... Between mom & my grandma, they'd been enabling alcoholic, drug-addicted swindling behavior for DECADES...

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    6. how sad! no doubt your mother and grandmother felt they were being loving and supportive, and the assholes were just taking advantage and didn't appreciate a thing. :-(

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    7. One relative, whose mother lied and said she lived at my mother's house so they could steal some more things while the estate sale people were getting ready, offered to come and live with Mom to help with cooking, cleaning, etc. My mother actually considered this arrangement. Amazing. I told Mom she'd be robbed blind. The last thing we need is a thief with access to credit card & identity information.

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  3. "My husband and I will be spending a quiet holiday together, roasting a duck and enjoying low-carb versions of classic dishes."

    What else do you need. Great grub, great wine and don't answer the phone for a few days. Jan and myself are hoping to have a very quiet Christmas day on our own, am I being selfish, am I a miserable old git? ask me if I care.

    Kind regards Eddie

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    1. do you care? ;-) no, i know exactly what you mean! i don't think it's selfish to pamper ONESELF occasionally, rather than pander to the "takers" in our lives all the time.

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  4. I concur with you all - 'festive' times should be void of oxygen thieving, vibe-destroyers.

    Thank Odin for close family (and nice people on the internet) who share the trait of being givers, rather than takers.

    All the best.

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    1. ah, Odin is one of my favorites! :-) sacrificed an eye to acquire wisdom....

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  5. My husband and I are having a duck too, and several varieties of fermented vegetables and marinated mushrooms. Our son is off for a rock-climbing trip with his friends.

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    1. sounds like great ways to celebrate, to me! :-)

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  6. I think I was lucky to grew-up in a secular environment, no one of my close relatives was saying prayers or expected me to pray. Many people became religious in Russia nowadays after the disintegration of former Soviet Union, it is a change for the worse from my perspective.

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    1. religion can definitely cause more trouble than it solves in the world. :-( we're going through a bad patch over here, with big-business-style churches trying to seize power and influence government -- i'll be glad if and when the courts get their butts in action and rein them in.

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  7. Agreed! WE did not invite the angry family members this year so it will be a pleasant time! looking forward to the grub and watching the parades on TEEVEE! I won't be shopping on Friday, but will be decoratin' the humble abode. Saturday I'm off to my mom's to help her decorate and have some lunch! Cheers!!

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    1. YEA!!! :-) I like your style....

      and yeah, I need to start putting away the autumn decorations and bring out winter stuff, too. I like to keep a seasonal garland and string of appropriate lights on my staircase rail -- I know, I'm like a kid, attracted to shiny stuff!

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    2. I think is is a natural human desire to get more lights in a darkest time of the year.

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    3. :-D yes, I think you're right! notice the "great light festivals" of Diwali, Channukah and Christmas happen throughout the fall and early winter...

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  8. "My husband and I will be spending a quiet holiday together, roasting a duck and enjoying low-carb versions of classic dishes."

    Hope you had an enjoyable and restful time.

    All the best Jan

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    1. Thank you, Jan. So many people I know are very stressed during holidays, so I appreciate my quite time even more. I hope you had a nice holiday as well.

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