Having come to America from South Africa in 2013, I assumed I would be fine with the adjustment to the culture since at home we have very similar religious practices and are also an English speaking nation. However, there was one thing that nobody had prepared me for: Thanksgiving!
Originally declared by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, and it was President Franklin D. Roosevelt who made it a national holiday on November 26, 1941. The holiday was to be celebrated every fourth Thursday of November to give thanks for family and food.
This was hilarious to me since it sounded like Christmas minus the presents or another excuse to throw an over the top party where you were expected to stuff your face.
What made it even more hilarious is when I researched and learned about the origins of this holiday. Back when the pilgrims came over to America in 1620, they no idea how to farm and survive. The Native Americans helped the weak and wary travelers to set up their lands and grow food. When the first successful harvest occurred, the pilgrims decided to invite the Native Americans for a big party to say thanks for the help.
Fast forward to today and those poor fellas are wishing they didn’t help them because now they’ve been pushed out of their homelands. Pretty awful that we are stuffing our faces for this isn’t it.
However, it requires one to take a step back and look at it from a modern perspective. The holiday wasn’t really made legitimate until Roosevelt did all the paperwork. In my opinion, Thanksgiving is viewed as a little breather at the end of the year where family and friends can get together and enjoy some good food and beverages.
It’s a tradition that has evolved into something away from its original meaning. When I asked some of my local friends what their views of Thanksgiving were, all of them agreed that it was about the relationships and the delicious feast.
So even though the entire holiday is one ironic paradox, let us not forget what Thanksgiving means to us today. Good food, good booze and good people.
(Also, the festive season is when the most people tend to drink and drive. Stay safe on the roads. Don’t drink and drive!)