Happy Thanksgiving!

November 28, 2013

Yorktown Heights, NY

Thanksgiving has always been a very special day in my life. From my days as a little boy to now, its always started with the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and recently the International Dog Show that follows it. This is the focus, but there is a lot more going on. The smell of the turkey cooking, cookies and desserts that were prepared in the days leading up to today all on display, the preparation of company arriving all play a part in it. Simply a sensory overload. I can still recall sitting on a couch with my Dad, sharing Sharp Cheddar Cheese and Pretzels while watching a football game on this day. To this day, I will always eat Pretzels with Sharp Cheddar and will always remember that moment.

For some, perhaps too many, this day is extremely stressful and I am sure it was for my Mom many years ago, but thankfully her children grew up and can now assist her in this massive undertaking. I am thankful that we can now help rather than be a burden on her, but I can appreciate just how massive this day is for a single person to execute. Of course, preparation is just one small part, we also have the family dynamics which adds to the stress in its own way as family begins to arrive, entertaining or rather tolerating unique differences between adults. So yes, I certainly understand how this day is stressful for many and I am very thankful that this part is behind us in our family.

But back to today and what does this have to do with the Bus Trip. Well, when I set out to pick up Sandy, I had only one deadline…be home for Thanksgiving. I don’t like traveling under deadlines as that is when you push yourself and become distracted on the task at hand. I also don’t like deadlines as then you tend to rush to get to point B from point A rather than enjoying the trip from A to B. It’s often the leisurely trips from A to B that I discover some of the best sites such as the photo above that I simply came across as I was heading North. Not having a deadline allowed me to turn around and go back to capture this picture. You may think that it was just a picture, but when I saw this sight, I immediately knew this would be my Thanksgiving Day picture. When I saw it, I felt that feeling of home on Thanksgiving and here we are today, Thanksgiving at my parents home some 2,200 miles and just 9 days away from when I shot this picture.

One may ask: How you do travel without deadline?
Yes, most everyone needs to return to work from their vacation or have some kind of schedule to keep. The key to traveling safely and without deadlines is to open your schedule up a bit. So in my case, I did have a deadline…Today. I needed to be or rather, wanted to be home for Thanksgiving and I have myself a month to get here. While not everyone can give themselves a month (why you can’t is a topic for another day) you can open you schedule up. Rather than planning your trip to the hour or even day. Plan it a little more loosely. If your route planning says it will take you 24 hours of driving time to get from A to B. Don’t figure on driving 8-10 hours a day. Plan it for 4-6 hours. This will give you more time to take a detour, stop for some photos, meet and talk to some locals and enjoy the trip. I can assure you that in all my years of traveling, the destination was never more spectacular than the journey. Anytime I look back on my trips, it was always the things I experienced along that way that brought me the most joy.

9 Day! Wow, that is so strange to me. Just a little over a week ago I was working my way East after having spent a night in the abandoned town of Keystone, SD and seeing both the Mt. Rushmore and Chief Crazy Horse Monuments. Well this trip isn’t over yet, but I am where I wanted to be today. Home with my family and friends and being Thankful for all I have – have experienced that is because I am not one to be thankful for possessions, but rather people, pets and experiences.

And that brings me to a final comment on today. Thanksgiving! There is a funny, but true post floating around the internet: “Only in America do we wait in line and trample others for sale items one day after giving thanks for what we already have”  Sadly, this statement is now incorrect. We don’t wait a day…Today the growing trend is to go stand on line today to buy stuff for Christmas. Now I’ll make a confession here, I’m not religious. I am spiritual and I believe strongly in the bond of  family and friends. I am seeing this trend to destroy our Family Holidays with a Commercially Induced, Falsely Created Buying frenzy.

I head from many that participate in this that they see nothing wrong with it. Why not get a good deal on something? Why not go shopping today. Why? Because today is about your family. But wait, some say. I don’t have family. True, many are not as luck as I am to have family, but if you simply look around outside of your bubble, you will see others that need you. You can visit a Nursing Home, volunteer at a Soup Kitchen or if you are not into any of that, try opening your door to others who are alone on this day. Invite complete strangers into your house. I can promise you that doing so is truly an amazing feeling. What today is not about is shopping, sales or Christmas. So you don’t need to bow down to our Mega Corporations who control you with their false sales and false advertising. You, the consumer are all powerful. If you demand that today remain about people and not sales and if you refuse to shop on this day, Black Friday will move back to Friday where it belongs. You can also demand – through your spending habits that these sales that cause mass hysteria, have actually caused people to be maimed and killed and brought out the worst in others through violence against fellow shoppers to end as well. There is no reason you the consumer, should be forced to wait in line for many hours just for a shot at buying a TV or what ever “Door Buster” sale item they, the business, only chooses to bring in a couple of.  There is a real good reason they do this too.

Another confession here. I use to be a Retail Sales Manager. I am fortunate that I had a Mom and Boss who had stronger family values than I did. See, I had bowed down to the almighty dollar too and I wanted to keep our store open 7 days a week. The fight for this control to keep the store open and to force our employees to work weekends and holidays was verbally violent. Today, I am glad I lost. For today I see clearly how I was driven by the Dollar GOD and had lost the meaning of what Holidays are supposed to be about. I can also see how, if this path we are on continues, Thanksgiving will not be about sitting down to a meal with your friends and family and being Thankful for them and the food before you, but rather about the Sales and once this happens, Thanksgiving will die and will no longer be a holiday for anyone other than the very rich for everyone else will be working on this day. Sadly, I see that this has little chance of ending as people are forced to work longer for less money and therefore need to sacrifice their holiday for a chance in a lottery to get the big scree TV they could have bought for a few dollars more if they were paid a decent wage,

For those that believe these are really good sales, I can offer you all kinds of proof that the GODs of Retail know what they are doing and what they are doing is creating the need and the frenzy and in doing so they get you to spend money you shouldn’t be on things you don’t need and buying more than you need.

There are several stories of how Black Friday got its name. One of these is that the day’s name originated in Philadelphia, where it originally was used to describe the heavy and disruptive pedestrian and vehicle traffic which would occur on the day after Thanksgiving. Another is that it was the day Retailers would go from Red to Black in reference to profits as many years ago retailers would operate at a loss until November and then they would be “In the Black” or profitable. Today however, this is not the case. Many retailers operate In the Black 12 months out of the year. So then why would they need to have these crazy sales? I’ll note just one retailer. Walmart. In the next 24 hours, Walmart – through its false advertising, creating a false need, and limiting quantities on purpose to cause false hysteria, will make 5 Billion Dollars in profit. Not sales…PROFIT. Yes, these GODs of Retail know exactly how to manipulate you. So stand up, stop being manipulated and take back your holiday.

Well, I can not change the world, but I can open my door and my heart and I hope others do the same. Honor the meaning of Thanksgiving in fact, honor the meaning of all your holidays. It’s not about shopping. Its about people.

Well, I’m off to enjoy my Thanksgiving with my family and friends 😀

HAPPY THANKSGIVING Everyone!

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