Family

SPECIAL SATURDAY EDITION (Wasn't able to get this up on Friday...):

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time of year... friends, family, loved ones. My time with the family has been great this year. It's been a time of reflection as well, so here goes...

I was listening to my favorite radio show a couple days ago on my way to school. The people on the show were debating whether the Thanksgiving football game should be turned off during the big meal. I was dismayed as the discussion reached its apex. One person was basically saying that football takes priority over Grandma, and the two hosts reached a conclusion: Watch football the whole afternoon, and hope for a blowout so that the TV can go off during the meal.

The fact that this topic was even DEBATED, much less concluded in that way, made me sick. Is this the state of our society and our families today? I suppose that the forces affecting this "football over family" issue are related to those motivating stores to open on Thanksgiving Day for a few hours "to get a head start on holiday shopping." It was a big front-page article on our local newspaper. Again, I couldn't believe it.

Don't get me wrong, Thanksgiving here is not all bad. The fact that the Wednesday before (ha, my kids call it "Thanksgiving Eve," but that's a story for another day) is the busiest travel day of the year (and even the fact that the Wednesday before is the biggest day of the year for bars) shows that people do still make Thanksgiving a priority. And it's comforting to know that family/friends is the big priority on Thanksgiving for most of my friends, family, and students. But still, I don't like where our society is heading in this area. I hope there isn't more of the same as the Christmas and holiday seasons go into full swing... but maybe my hopes are in vain.