What's that all about then? Can someone tell me what Thanksgiving celebrates? We don't have it in the UK so I don't have a clue. It's one of your biggest holidays isn't it? Cheers Reachy
It celebrates the meeting of the pilgrims and the indians and the feast they had, it's a day where you eat a ton of food and watch football. Happy Turkey Day.
English The pilgrim fathers? My wife is from Boston in Lincolnshire and there are a lot of references to the pilgrims there. I'll tell you this, I'm not suprised that they left to set up shop on your shores because Boston UK is, well, dull!! Cheers Reachy
Have a great day. I have got to the stage were I am frightened to post on here because it may be considered as Crud. Anyway here goes. To all my American pals. Have a lovely Thanksgiving Day. Andy
Get your turkey comped I like to celebrate that there is now Indian Gaming :joker: Interestingly enough, Canadians also have Thanksgiving of their own in October.
Yes, it started with the Pilgrims and Indians but, believe it or not, no football! Reachy, it is a day we Americans give thanks for all good things that have happened in our lives. This runs the whole range from personal experiences to good old fashioned flag waving to being just plain grateful for what we have. We celebrate by gorging ourself on food (turkey is traditional) until we can't eat anymore then loosen up the belt, grab a beer, and complain how full we are while watching some (American style) football and of course belching occasionally is somewhat acceptable. Of course, the cook(s) get the best complements of the year. Thanksgiving has evolved as a time for families to gather from far and wide. Since the holiday is always on a Thursday, this makes for a perfect 4 day weekend for families to gather. Like any family get together, we often have to pretend as if we like each other but that's life. We mostly celebrate with family members who do not live with us but household celebrating without "outsiders" is common. We attach so much importance to it that the members of our Armed Forces, anywhere in the world, get a hot turkey Thanksgiving meal on this day. We absolutely go out of the way to get this meal to every soldier and it is rare indeed that it is not provided. On the whole, it is a very joyous holiday. It is somewhat uniquely American and I guess we pride ourself on that - to a degree. However, to repeat what I said before, it is about giving thanks - that's what it's all about. (And having a day off from work is pretty good too )
Day of prayer Thanksgiving was initially a day of prayer. Our founding fathers initiated the day to say thanks to God for giving us a beautiful land full of hope post European oppression.
We Don't Exchange Gifts The idea is to give thanks for all we have, especially each other, but exchanging gifts isn't part of the custom. Thanksgiving occurs during the Wisconsin deer hunting season, and my family has almost always gone out and done that in the morning. The LCO casino near here has an excellent Thanksgiving buffet and we took advantage of that this year, as we have in past years. Three years ago my Air Force Reserve unit was called to active duty the day before Thanksgiving, but they let us wait to report until the day after. We're not on active duty any more. Incidentally, for you history buffs, Thanksgiving was a custom initiated by the earliest settlers, and was instituted as a national holiday by Abraham Lincoln.
Mr Reachy While Thankgiving holds different meanings and often special memories for each of us, below is a comprehensive link as to both its history and numerous activities http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving Chips
Tut Tut. Drinking on Thanksgiving day! Reachy and London Colin, The American’s can try and rationalise out Thanksgsgiving Day with the celebration of Pilgrims and Indians etc. However, I think they are just like us when it comes to celebrating these events. It’s just an excuse for taking time out of work, having too much to drink and being pissed up. Some of our members have gone missing. Noman, toolman1, Acedonovan. Where are you? Andy
Way off base We, and many others, are all here waiting for the crud to go away. By the way Andy 956, you are way off base about our Thanksgiving.
We will see Ace and Noman have yet to come on. Forget the crud. Hungover honest reporting will be accepted. Andy
What?? Andy, Toolman is not the spokesman for all the USA, Thanksgiving Holiday includes 2 days off work (otherwise why is it always on Thursday and Friday is a paid Holiday for most), traditional Thanksgiving turkey dinner and stuffing is well planned (white wine with turkey and red wine with stuffing), I'll give Toolman his third point just so he still says hello and shakes my hand at the next tournament we meet.
Let's get it straight Here's the problem with forums - the written word is often misinterpreted which in turn leads to disputes and, of course, "crud". So let me set the record straight: 1) Not trying to be spokesman for anything. All my opinions are just that, my opinions and no one else's. I have no intention of leading anything on this forum. Just expressing thoughts and opinions. Nothing more, nothing less. Don't read anything into my posts that are not there. 2) The norm is 1 day off from work although many companies now give 2. Many people take that Friday as a vacation day to get a 4 day weekend. Just to set the record straight. And yes I will still shake your hand the next time I see you.
Thanksgiving Humor Toolman, Yes I agree the written word is often misunderstood, my above post was made in humor in an attempt to lighten up this site and nothing more. There was nothing personal in my post and I presumed you as a friend would understand it was lighthearted when I addressed it to your prior post. Perhaps we can all learn something from this, lets not take ourselves too serious.
California Dreaming? Not sure if this is just pub talk so what are the myths and facts behind the following statements? American’s have few holidays and have to work on Boxing and New Years Day? You cannot smoke anywhere in California? If you have more than four beers in a California restaurant on a single night you are given a list of AA meetings and directions to the Betty Ford Clinic? Women from the southern states of America are more broadminded when it comes to sex? For the record I work in the National Health Service and this is my holiday entitlement. Five weeks annual leave. Ten additional days that we call bank holidays. An option of taking up to four weeks unpaid leave (I take two weeks) which is deducted each month from your salary so you don’t really notice the loss. Andy
