Samantha: These fast food apple pies are surprisingly delicious!
Carrie: I know! Why would anybody go to the trouble of making one when you can buy one that is so perfect and individually sized?
So I spent my very first major holiday away from home (I'm not counting the 4th of July, Roald Dahl's birthday, or National Talk Like a Pirate Day) and survived quite nicely. Thanksgiving has never been a big holiday with my family since both my mom and dad come from fairly small families. There just isn't a ton of hype when the holiday boils down to a moderately larger meal than what you are used to. Therefore, with flight prices skyrocketing and only having a four-day weekend, I decided to stay in my new city and see what Thanksgiving would look like for a young, single, professional.
I was planning on doing something super sexy and fabulous like getting all dolled up and going out on the town, but tradition stopped me in my tracks. I was one of a few staff members who stayed on campus due to the aforementioned reasons. We begrudgingly decided that we should properly celebrate this holiday which is based solely around oppression of other's cultures by stuffing our face with starchy goodness. One of the other HD's decided that he would be in charge of the meal and we would have it picnic style at one of the major attractions of my new city. However, he is a major MBTI "P" and as I've stated before in multiple posts, I am the epitome of a "J." Therefore, when last Wednesday came around and I still didn't have any concrete plans, I jumped into action.
I started a group e-mail that went to everyone who would be joining us and tried to coordinate who would be bringing what and when we would meet and who would drive and all of the other details that are involved when you try to plan an event for people who are used to planning their own events as a profession. Eventually, the original planner of the event got a little testy and said that I was "hijacking his holiday" which I'm sure was said with equal parts of humor and truth. I wanted to see what his idea of a Thanksgiving meal would be for young, fabulous, and metropolitan people and he said "Turkey sandwiches and those apple pies from McDonald's." I simply could not take this. I told him that if we were going to have Thanksgiving, then we needed to give the holiday a little respect. I told him that I would take care of the food and he could just show up and look pretty.
So Thursday came and I was all set with the food. We carpooled to the local attraction, set out our blanket, and had ourselves a good old-fashioned feast. We were enjoying each other's company and the scenery and the great food and the my co-worker brought up how I had hijacked the holiday, but this time it was all in good fun. We then went into a 15-minute discussion where I asserted that turkey sandwiches and processed apple pies did not constitute a Thanksgiving meal while he contended that it was an "avant-garde" approach to the meal. I told him that he was watching too much Project Runway and that if I wanted to have a meaningless fight about food that had the potential for emotional scars, I would have just gone home and spent the holiday with my family!
With a laugh and a hug, we decided to never fight again. It seems as though no matter how far I am away from my family and the craziness that seems to rear it's head during the holiday, the ridiculousness follows to my new family. My new family is from every part of the nation and continent and I absolutely love working with each and every one of them. So to keep with my family's tradition of going around the table and saying what we are thankful for, I am thankful for my co-workers at my new school. They are my friends, colleagues, confidants, and most importantly, my new family, ridiculous fights and all.
What are you thankful for?
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