Thanksgiving Turkeys
Jennifer Flaten

Thanksgiving is, in my opinion, the best holiday. Well, second best to Halloween. Come on, Halloween means you get oodles of candy. The candy alone makes it number one in my heart, but add in all the spooky decorations and nothing can compare to it.

Anyway, back to Thanksgiving. Therefore, while it is not my number one holiday, it still is a darn good holiday.

Think about it, what is there not to like? You get a day off, a day off where you get to eat fabulous food, watch a parade and best of all you don't have to give any gifts.

For the life of me, I can't understand why Thanksgiving isn't a more popular holiday. You can tell it is unpopular by the dearth of decorations and what not available at stores.

I think Thanksgiving is seriously dissed in the decoration department. Your choices at the store are pretty dismal, maybe a few paper turkeys and some Indian corn.

Think about it every other holiday involves copious amounts of decorating, Halloween and Christmas are huge decorating events, even the more religious Easter entails a multitude of colorful decorations, frolicking bunnies, brightly hued chicks and colored eggs.

Poor Thanksgiving, could it be that no one wants to adorn their house with stern looking pilgrims, and what with political correctness it is not like you can have a bunch of Indians stapled up all over the house. I consider myself a good decorator, but there are only so many pumpkins you can have in your house.

Even with the lack of decorations, I love Thanksgiving. To me it is the start of the cozy winter season, and all the gorgeous fall colors and cool crisp weather get me all set to bake cookies for the upcoming Christmas season.

As much as I like Thanksgiving, I have come to terms with the fact that not many other people feel that way about it.

I really think the problem is that people associate Thanksgiving with getting together with family members that they would rather avoid. For some reason, Thanksgiving seems to encourage more family gatherings then Christmas.

Therefore, Thanksgiving becomes that time when people endure a visit from various aunts, uncles and cousins. Which are in turns, drunks, bores and people who have no compunction about asking painful personal questions.

I agree who would want to spend time with those kinds of people. Yet, millions do it every year.

I can't understand why Thanksgiving is the designated holiday of seeing relatives I hate but feel obligated to invite.

Why doesn't Christmas have this designation? Is it because Christmas still carries many religious overtones? All that peace, love and forgiveness must have something to do with it, not to mention the chance you may receive a gift certificate from your nosy Cousin Kate.

So, at Thanksgiving, when you know you won't receive a gift, why invite all those loathsome relatives to your cozy home? What motivates people to spend time with people they can't stand, is it some sort of penance for bad behavior earlier in the year?

About this time of year, many articles start appearing all of them geared towards helping you cope with your Cousin Jim Bob who is a rampaging racist. Here is my advice-stop inviting Cousin Jim Bob.

Yep, that's my advice in a nutshell. Stop associating with people you don't like.

I think the world would be a much happier place if everyone just stopped feeling obligated to entertain Aunt Irene who never has a kind word to say. Who cares, if her feelings are hurt, now she knows what it feels like.

I think the only place you should have to endure rampant boobery is at work; at least, they pay you. Why have your nice holiday wrecked by some drunken relative.

Let's start a movement to have the only turkey at our table on Thanksgiving be the one filled with stuffing.