Thanksgiving

Today is Thanksgiving Day in the United States, a day most people spend gathering around a table with friends and family. I've never really been one for Thanksgiving festivities. When friends find out that I had planned to stay home and watch movies today, they invariably express concern and imagine me sobbing convulsively into my pillow. Thanks for your concern, but I'm good.

Many of the traditional trappings of Thanksgiving are mostly non-vegetarian foods (like turkey, stuffing, gravy). Those that are vegetarian are foods that I don't really like (or really hate)---pumpkin pie, sweet potatoes, corn, cranberry sauce. Whenever I'd go visit family for Thanksgiving, I'd eat a few sticks of celery, a roll or two, a little bit of cheese, and some olives.

I'm glad I have friends that love this holiday and enjoy the traditional trappings. If I declined your invitation, I'm still grateful that we're friends, but I'm going to have falafel and watch some movies. Many of my friends are young and have "family" style gatherings for friends whose families live in places far away. Even at those gatherings at which the host/hostess prepared vegetarian options, I hate feeling like that annoying vegetarian guy.

I've never, in the 18 years I've been continuously vegetarian, gone to any gathering in which I allowed other people to guilt me or pressure me into trying something that falls outside of my diet. My family accepted it a long time ago and most of my friends know that my refusal isn't about them.

For those of you who see this holiday as something special, other than a free four-day weekend, I wish you the very best in your celebrations. I hope your turkey and wine are delicious and that your gatherings are full of wonderful amazing people.

I'll celebrate by working through these Netflix envelopes and having some movies to recommend or discourage. Sounds like a great day off to me.