Today is ‘Thanksgiving’, so… errrr… congratulations? to all Americans? Thanks?? And a belated ‘sorry’ to Canadians for forgetting their one a couple weeks’ ago. So easy to forget Canadians. Because Thanksgiving is a big deal over there, where here, it barely even registers. But if you ask most Americans what they’re, precisely, giving thanks for, they don’t know. Which is fine. Its a holiday, enjoy. Day off work, they play the years only NFL game on a Thursday and, less surprisingly, they eat too much and drink more. But the reason? Errrr, pilgrims? settlers? harvest? Who knows, who cares.

I care. Deeply. Ish. But only because I read an interesting thing about it yesterday.

The puritans and pilgrims arrived in America in the late 1500s. They heard of a ‘new world’ and thought it would be a good place to go and sell Jesus, in case the locals there were ignorant of Christian ways. Which was always gonna be likely. So out they went, pretty brave too, not like some kind of gap year hi-jinks, this was for real. No Pan-Am, not even any internet. And they landed in Massachusetts and made home. And pretty much starved. The crops they’d brought from England didn’t work so well over there and they were suffering. McDonalds was still 350 years away. Then some local tribe of ‘Native Americans’ showed them the errors of their ways. And they then thrived over there and became ‘Americans’. And in 1621 they had a massive feast with all the tribe members in celebration of the proper harvests and abundant food that became the distant forebear of the Man vs Food Challenge. And to give thanks to the ‘Red Indians’ for their live-giving help.

Just before they engaged in their wholesale slaughter and mass genocide across the entire nation.

Thanksgiving was never a religious festival, even though with those involved, God would’a been a big recipient of some of those thanks, doubtlessly. Religious types don’t take a pee without thanking the Lord. But even ‘back then’ they decided that Thanksgiving shouldn’t detract from their sabbath, which is why its on a Thursday. Or a Monday if you’re Canadian. So it becomes a kind’a pre-Christmas. Another excuse to eat turkey. Or quinoa if you’re a vegan. Or any other ‘trans’ type of personality. (See? Equality, innit.)

So Happy Thanksgiving

A xxxx