For a lot of people — especially here in the US of A — Thanksgiving is a time for festivities; for family, for sporting events... and let's not forget SHOPPING!
As I have mentioned before, I was born and grew up in Denmark, and Thanksgiving wasn't "a thing" over there, so my introduction to this particular tradition came in my early 20's, during my University years.
Of course, I'm as much in favor of having a huge food fest as the next person, so I was quite happy to be part of the festivities with my first "host family" in Austin, Texas.
In time, though, I came to realize that my favorite thing about Thanksgiving — aside from the food — was silence.
After approaching the inevitable "food coma" stage, my "thing" tended to be to take a long walk out and about, away from everything.
One of the things I always noticed — and was grateful for — was the relative silence of Thanksgiving.
That might sound a bit counterintuitive, but on Thanksgiving Day most commercial activity tends to grind to a complete stop... as a result of which the background ambient noise level drops considerably.
When I took these long walks, I enjoyed hearing the absence of road sounds; the absence of delivery trucks, The world seemed a whole lot more still.
Being as how I was living in Central Texas at the time, there was no telling what the weather might be like; it could be humid and warm, or freezing cold. But I always made a point of taking one of my long walks.
I am also proud to say that in all my years of living in the USA — 42 and counting — I have never gone shopping on "Black Friday!"
I know it's a time-honored tradition for some people, but the thought of battling crowds for shopping bargains has always truck me as a particularly heinous form of torture! But power to those who brave the crowds...
For a period of 13 years I actually was proprietor of of a gift-related retail store, and Thanksgiving came to mean the start of working super long hours, seven days a week... in some ways, working retail took some of the shine off the rose, with respect to the whole holiday mood situation.
When you live, eats and breathe holiday shopping for 30 days straight, you just end up feeling somewhat exhausted and put off by the whole thing.
It has been a good number of years now, and I have slowly returned to a state in which I can enjoy the holidays, again.
Thankful for that!
And with that thought, it's time for me to return to my quiet day. Thanks for stopping by, and have a great remainder of your weekend!
How about YOU? If you observe the holiday, how do you like to spend Thanksgiving? Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!
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Created at 20221126 16:54 PDT
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