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Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving now days isn't so much about our forefathers, as we well understand what they did as far as the native Americans are concerned. Those traditional symbols are still used, of course, but it's more of a celebration of family & being thankful for what you have. It's also about giving to others who might not be as fortunate. That is the underlying message.
 
East Coast(er) General said:
It's also about giving to others who might not be as fortunate. That is the underlying message.
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Yep.

Having a party and eating as much as possible. What a brilliant way to give to the needy! No wonder Jade Goody was such a martyr.
 
More food & donations are given to the needy during Thanksgiving than any other time of the year. Having a traditional meal to give thanks for your blessings is only part of the holiday. I'm surprised that the English don't have a decent meal when the family gets together to celebrate. But then maybe they don't know how to cook a decent meal. :p
 
East Coaster(er) General said:
I'm surprised that the English don't have a decent meal when the family gets together to celebrate. But then maybe they don't know how to cook a decent meal.
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See the thing is. Over here, we don't need a devoted holiday to get the family together to celebrate. For starters we have the Sunday Roast which most families adhere to. And even those who can't be arsed to cook one can always go down to the local carvery.

That's what I don't get about America. Why should you need a set holiday to get the family together? Yes I understand it is a much bigger nation and families are further apart. But that ideal applies here for Christmas. What I'm talking about here is more immediate family. Ie - the people that live in the same house. It just smacks of antisocial to me - as there's very few things more pleasant than the family unit all sitting down together for a meal around the table. Something I presently miss so dearly.

Which is why I hate it when things like what furie is hinting at are said. Yes we don't have a devoted holiday - but thing is, we don't need one. I know not every family in Britain eats together at the dinner table, without a television and just each other's days and topical conversation for entertainment - but practically everyone at least has a Sunday Roast. So no furie - you can't say the UK has lost it's tradition, because it's just not true. A fair proportion of it has been lost to many - but aspects of it still fabricate our nation, it's just because they're so common to us that we often forget what they are and take them for granted. ;)

I am always pleased to learn that Roast beef is still the national culinary pride. It is called a "joint," and is served at midday on Sunday with roasted potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, two vegetables, a good strong horseradish, gravy, and mustard.

Right - time for some porridge... :p
 
^^^ agreed, however I think your/our definition of family, and what they are describing as family are different in this example.

I don't know about you, but I definatly dont have all my cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents over every sunday :D

I do still agree, however, that you shouldnt need a set date in which you meet with family. And then say that we have one more day a year in which we're allowed to meet with our family :p
 
I did say that that - the extended family that is - was for Christmas or special personal reasons. And that every Sunday was for the household :p

And not even Christmas Dinner Marc? :(
 
Do all honestly think they only meet up once a year? come on lol.

I tend to see my family during Jewish holidays, we meet for dinner etc. We only meet during these times as people live all over the UK and it is hard to get everyone together due to work and other things.

I also know plenty of people that only see their family on Xmas day and Boxing Day, so they are set dates as well.

Neal as I said I hate roast dinners, apart from Lamb thats it. I like the lamb don't like the rest of the stuff that goes with it.
 
My family (the extended one) rarely gets together Neal. My sister is in Leeds, I'm in Stafford - it's a three hour journey between us. My folks live about central.

We tend to to have one day a year (usually a week or two before Christmas) when we get together, but that's the only time.

Madame_Furie's family are mostly in Stafford, but we don't often get together for a meal or anything. I honestly don't know that many people who actually do now where all the kids have flown the coop.

the thing is, it's a chore to get together with my sister once a year at my parents. And that's only two families living three hours away. In the US you can have larger families, where getting together means a three hour flight. I know that Madame_Jerry (EastCoasterGeneralesse?)'s family only live in New York, but it's still, what? Best part of an hour to get there Jerry?

The scales are completely out of proportion to over there, so it's much more of a necessity to have a specific time to organise things. Living close to someone there may mean within an hour's drive. Here it might mean a two minute drive or a ten minute walk.

[edit after many posts]Family_Furie eat pretty much all of our meals together around a table. However, that's just a single household - there's a big difference between a household family getting together regularly, or direct family getting together who live a log way apart.

Do you head home every Sunday then Neal? ;)
 
Thanksgiving is for getting the extended family together, not the immediate family. Generally the immediate family gathers for Sunday dinner after mass every week as you mention, but Thanksgiving is for the entire family: aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins & nieces/nephews to all get together under one roof & count their blessings. Personally I don't see anything wrong setting aside one day for such an endeavor as a national holiday.
Many families set aside another day of their choosing for a large family gathering, usually in the summer. But that day isn't so much about giving blessings as it is about having fun together at a picnic or at the beach or some other family tradition.
For me personally, just getting the immediate family together is near impossible. One of my sisters lives in Erie, PA & the other in West Palm Beach, FL (thousands of miles apart). My father lives in Boston half the year & the other half in Orlando. My brother lives outside Munich, Germany & is on the road 9 months out of the year. My mother lives in Ireland in the spring/summer & in Thailand fall/winter. The last time we all got together was 12 years ago.
 
furie, I think you missed my point entirely. :lol:

I also mentioned all that you said in your post as well, that America's bigger and even extended family over here don't meet regularly. But the household does every Sunday (and in my case every day). I know for a fact that Mum also misses me being there as the servings are ridiculously out of proportion :lol:

Yes I know my family has a seemingly heightened sense of values as a unit than most, but we're not uncommon in the thought of having daily meals with each other to discuss our lives and the news, etc. I really do miss it :cry:

edit - and yes Marc. I do like the idea behind it's inception and ties to serfdom/peasantry ;)
 
It was a meal cooked for workers (slaves) as a thank you for their work during the week :) It had nothing to do with family.

So really every Sunday was a Thankgiving day lol.

Anyway enough from me now.
 
furie said:
I know that Madame_Jerry (EastCoasterGeneralesse?)'s family only live in New York, but it's still, what? Best part of an hour to get there Jerry?
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We get together with Christine's family quite often (every other month at least). Two of her sisters live within a block of her parents home near Coney Island. The other sister lives about 90 minutes away near SFGAdv. We live on the opposite side of town & it takes up to 2 hours to get to her parents depending on traffic (1 hour without any traffic).
 
It does have everything to do with the family Marc. :lol:

In this case, it's about letting your workers/serfs be part of the family and thank them for their efforts. It's also good to showcase that after the abolition of such practices we still have it ;)
 
They did not eat with the family though Neal, so it was not making them part of the family at all. The servants still had to cook the food anyway, or collect it from the bakers where it was cooked.

It was just a thank you, and probably a way to make sure they got one good meal a week so they were not ill lol.

There is a lot about the history of the roast dinner on the net.

But whatever.
 
Back in the good old days before commercialisation, if you were a toff, your workforce was part of your "extended" family per say.

You provided land, housing and obviously, work. The meal is gratitude toward them at the end of the week on the sabbath day. Lest we forget that. :lol:

But anyway, enough about Britain and the Sunday Roast/Dinner/Joint/Tea/whatever. Today is about America and it's tradition. Right - I've got my torch and pitchfork - point me at a native! :p
 
I think it's ridiculous to criticise Thanksgiving whilst I happily take part in Christmas. Especially when we usually have a Turkey... and not a goose. (Turkey's are native to the Americas. Stolen tradition, there.)

Meanings get lost over time or evolve, and rightly so. You make holidays what you want them to be, you take bits of traditions you like and erase bits that don't. It's the 21st century.

Thanksgiving is, as far as I see, for most people about getting together, having fun and food - things that are agreed foundations for most holidays throughout cultures and history.

I'm sure LOTS of traditions and holidays are based in horrible, horrible things. Nursery rhymes, stories, everything. Death and other such horridness is part of life, and so it makes sense for it to be the foundations of "holidays".

Saying that, when people, specifically in America (and Australia), complain about immigrants taking their resources, I want to hit them very hard with a large history book. Unless they are descendants of natives, they have no right so utter a word about it.

Ignorance is bliss. And I'm sure that's a lot of what Thanksgiving is about.

I wonder if decendents of natives in America "celebrate" thanksgiving in remeberence? Or maybe they are fortunate of what has become of their country? Would be interested to know.
 
Thanksgiving's just an excuse to raise prices on everything the weeks before and then drastically lower them the day after. :wink:
 
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