That time of the year is upon us again, and it's time to ask, for the 8th year in a row, this question. Nobody knew at the time of last year's iteration (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=26004.0) that a new virus had started spreading in the Chinese city of Wuhan (it has been traced back to as early as 2019, November 17) and that it would bring the world as we knew it to an end, so this year things will be a little different. More people won't be working this day, but also it is strongly recommended not to gather in large numbers, so this year dinners are expected to be more intimate.
The (American) Football schedule for this strange year in which most personnel at these stadia won't be working (times are EST):
12:30 p.m.: Texans at Lions
4:30 p.m.: Football Team (:sombrero:) at Cowboys
8:30 p.m.: Ravens at Steelers.
Previous iterations of this thread: VII (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=26004.0), VI (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=23915.0), V (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=21620.0), IV (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=19145.0), III (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=16895.0), II (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=14048.0), I (https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=10941.0)
Nope, not working. Now that I'm office staff, I get the day off with pay.
My sister and her husband are driving down from Iowa, and we'll be heading to meet them at my parents' house for the day.
Also a (tentatively) relatively healthy slate of college sports that day.
Football
1 PM: Colorado State/Air Force
6 PM: New Mexico/Utah State
Basketball, including:
11 AM: Wright State/(8) Illinois
12:30 PM: (1) Gonzaga/(6) Kansas
Not working. Never have worked Thanksgiving.
My family, for the first time in like 80+ years, is not having Thanksgiving this year. Too many older people, and too many people with underlying immune issues, to take any risks.
I will be with my girlfriend and her small family this year. Very strange for me to be anywhere except with my family, but it's for the best.
We are thinking about having a faux-Thanksgiving next year during the Spring, assuming we get a vaccine by then.
I finally get Thanksgiving off for the first time in about 15 or 16 years, as we are going to be closed on Thanksgiving for the first time in over 30 years. Just about the only time I'll say, "Thanks, Corona!"
I'll be off again this year as well, thanks to my promotion to salary a few years ago.
As tempting as it would be to touch the work computer, it sits off during the holiday in the home office.
Thanksgiving, the bubble edition.
Not working and I think that COVID was the final nail in the coffin in terms of killing the potential for it ever happening.
No work for me either. Thanksgiving is one of our mandatory holidays off.
Does dragging the boxes of Christmas decorations out of the basement count as work?
Again, no working on Thanksgiving for me.
Not working, but it's going to be ... different ... just like everything else in 2020.
Nope. Off for the entire week.
I'm not doing a damn thing on Thursday.
Off Thursday and Friday, and will only be called upon to work if there is some sort of weather event or emergency that requires public notification.
For the first time in nearly a decade, I won't be working on Thanksgiving.
Still working on Thanksgiving, and no birthday for me this year either. :verymad:
Quote from: webny99 on November 21, 2020, 02:19:40 PM
Not working, but it's going to be ... different ... just like everything else in 2020.
Should be just the same as always for my family. My parents, my sister and her husband, and the five of us. Dinner at my folks' house. That's the way it is every year.
Quote from: kphoger on November 22, 2020, 03:51:17 PM
Quote from: webny99 on November 21, 2020, 02:19:40 PM
Not working, but it's going to be ... different ... just like everything else in 2020.
Should be just the same as always for my family. My parents, my sister and her husband, and the five of us. Dinner at my folks' house. That's the way it is every year.
Here in New York, gatherings are limited to 10, but my family is *much* larger than that when we're all together, so it'll be a smaller than usual gathering this year.
Nope. We're closed.
Quote from: webny99 on November 22, 2020, 04:04:55 PM
Here in New York, gatherings are limited to 10, but my family is *much* larger than that when we're all together, so it'll be a smaller than usual gathering this year.
I grew up far away from extended family, and my mother only had two living relatives during my childhood, so I only have a couple of early memories of "large" family gatherings–and those were probably only a dozen people. My introduction to big holiday parties was after meeting my [now] wife, whose nuclear and extended family all gathered in one house for Christmas. It's definitely a different kind of setting, that's for sure.
I am not and have Black Friday off as well :)
I should mention that, even though I get Thanksgiving off from work, my wife (who is self-employed as a home daycare provider) also takes off Wednesday and Friday every year as paid holidays, giving her a five-day week-end. I suspect she'll still do some work on her side business, though (selling Scentsy).
Quote from: kphoger on November 23, 2020, 10:08:25 AM
... My introduction to big holiday parties was after meeting my [now] wife, whose nuclear and extended family all gathered in one house for Christmas. It's definitely a different kind of setting, that's for sure.
Sounds familiar to me, though! I've got a lot of family on both sides, and I do sometimes wonder how different things would be if that wasn't the case. Smaller Thanksgivings, definitely. Less travel, also definitely. I remember being shocked as a kid in elementary/middle school that some of my peers had never been on an airplane. Then I realized both sides of their family were probably from nearby, and decided maybe it was a blessing to have a far-away set of grandparents/relatives.
Back when I used to sometimes work Thanksgiving, it was probably the slowest work day of the year. I was a dispatcher, which in the cable industry means work order alterations, equipment provisioning, troubleshooting, etc. On Thanksgiving, though, there were no installations scheduled, just trouble calls. Well, on a trouble call, there's hardly anything to alter on the account, most issues are related to wiring or configuration or settings rather than equipment provisioning, and so the large majority of appointments could be resolved without the tech ever calling dispatch. One year, a new lady worked her first day at the company on Thanksgiving. She sat here with almost zero calls coming in, so we couldn't really teach her anything. But we got double-time pay for that!
Quote from: kphoger on November 22, 2020, 03:51:17 PM
Quote from: webny99 on November 21, 2020, 02:19:40 PM
Not working, but it's going to be ... different ... just like everything else in 2020.
Should be just the same as always for my family. My parents, my sister and her husband, and the five of us. Dinner at my folks' house. That's the way it is every year.
Here in WA, the governor is strongly advising against gatherings for Thanksgiving. Gathering with ones own household is the only recommendation.
My family always makes a thing about traditions, but we've put things on hold this year. We plan to see each other again by Easter. There's simply no reason for us to have Thanksgiving when the whole point of the holiday is to gather. At the end of the day, it's just a meal.
We are going to do a big Zoom gathering instead. My grandma will make some food, deliver it to us, and then everyone can chat over the internet. Should be interesting and frankly more fun!
Quote from: jakeroot on November 23, 2020, 03:37:14 PM
There's simply no reason for us to have Thanksgiving when the whole point of the holiday is to gather. At the end of the day, it's just a meal.
The Separatists, who had suffered religious persecution because of their beef with the Church of England and their lower socio-economic standing, plus various others–mainly farmers whose way of life was being eroded by the early stages of industrialization–wishing to leave England for a new start in Jamestown colony, all expected to sail across the Atlantic to a company town on a pair of ships. One of those ships was quickly determined to be unfit for the voyage, so it turned around and never sailed again, soon afterward being demolished. Thus, more than 100 folks spent the next couple of months in a space about the size of a volleyball court. With a diet of dried meat, dried peas, and salted fish, several of them developed scurvy. Encountering severe weather while approaching America, they ended up quite a ways off course without much chance of making it to Jamestown. After a few failed attempts at locating a place to harbor around Cape Cod Bay, they eventually found a suitable place with fresh water available, set anchor, and went ashore.
It was now December, and there was no time to build proper housing structures. Instead, this group of "saints and sinners" all shared the same dugout/lean-to for the winter. After having spent the voyage not wanting much to do with each other, the two groups soon found it necessary to get over their differences. A leader was elected, and he kept getting elected every time there was a vote for years to come. With many in ill health from the journey and foodstuff scarce, death came to many. Several diseases spread, one of which was perhaps a yet-unnamed influenza. At one point, there were only seven able-bodied men well enough to dig graves. The alternative to sharing this inadequate, cramped space full of sick people was to spend the winter outdoors in the New England winter–not really an alternative, of course. By the end of winter, roughly half the people had died.
Meanwhile, the company ship remained anchored offshore all winter long, not being able to return till spring, with the crew living halfway comfortably onboard. When spring finally arrived, the opportunity presented itself for people to give up and return home. Many had lost wives, husbands. British fishing techniques didn't work in the new land. Oats didn't grow here. Prospects were bleak. And yet not a single one of them decided to return to England on the Mayflower. For all of them, freedom and a new start in life were worth all the hardships, were worth facing illness and even death.
By a series of seemingly miraculous turns of events, they were greeted by a handful of Natives willing to help the newcomers make a living here–not least of whom was an ex-slave who had already converted to Christianity in Europe and learned English well enough to communicate. They learned to make fishing nets, fertilize hills of Indian corn, etc. Against the odds, the harvest that year yielded enough surplus for them to hold a festival of thanksgiving. The Natives, having killed and brought five deer to the feast, made up more than half of those in attendance. There had been much sorrow during the previous year, much apprehension, much strife, much sickness, much death. Prudent, perhaps, would have been to stockpile what surplus could be stockpiled, and forego such a harvest festival. Yet they determined that it was necessary to have a celebration. They determined to thank God for his blessings, to share with one another, to find joy amidst the tears.
The point of the holiday is not simply "to gather". At the end of the day, it isn't "just a meal". This year more than any previously, I find good reason to gather with my loved ones and kindle a flame of thankfulness. Many of us find ourselves in a season of unease, apprehension, peril, and fear. Some of us have friends and family who have fallen ill, or whom we fear will soon fall ill. Prudent, perhaps, would be to forego the festivities and hunker down in our own huts. But that's not what I intend to do. I intend to celebrate life even in the face of calamity.
I'm not saying the meaning behind the holiday isn't important. But at the end of the day, I'm walking away from a meal and seeing some family, two things that are being advised against in my state.
You can do whatever you want. If it's important to you to gather for your own personal mental stability, so be it. But I've not yet reached that point. Other than not being able to see each other all the time, my family is fine and we haven't lost anyone (and no positive tests). We'll all see each other soon enough.
By the way, I think it's super awesome that your grandma is delivering food for the holiday.
Quote from: kphoger on November 23, 2020, 04:44:45 PM
By the way, I think it's super awesome that your grandma is delivering food for the holiday.
No doubt! She's a saint.
I almost said "hero" in my last post but decided against it. Then you go and throw out the word "saint"! Either way, she must be amazing, remarkable, awe-inspiring, magnificent, and phenomenal. I hope you tell her how much you appreciate the delivery.
Quote from: kphoger on November 23, 2020, 04:22:39 PM
...
By a series of seemingly miraculous turns of events, they were greeted by a handful of Natives willing to help the newcomers make a living here–not least of whom was an ex-slave who had already converted to Christianity in Europe and learned English well enough to communicate. They learned to make fishing nets, fertilize hills of Indian corn, etc. Against the odds, the harvest that year yielded enough surplus for them to hold a festival of thanksgiving. The Natives, having killed and brought five deer to the feast, made up more than half of those in attendance. There had been much sorrow during the previous year, much apprehension, much strife, much sickness, much death. Prudent, perhaps, would have been to stockpile what surplus could be stockpiled, and forego such a harvest festival. Yet they determined that it was necessary to have a celebration. They determined to thank God for his blessings, to share with one another, to find joy amidst the tears.
The point of the holiday is not simply "to gather". At the end of the day, it isn't "just a meal". This year more than any previously, I find good reason to gather with my loved ones and kindle a flame of thankfulness. Many of us find ourselves in a season of unease, apprehension, peril, and fear. Some of us have friends and family who have fallen ill, or whom we fear will soon fall ill. Prudent, perhaps, would be to forego the festivities and hunker down in our own huts. But that's not what I intend to do. I intend to celebrate life even in the face of calamity.
Well said. I really appreciate your perspective, to the point where I feel like like smiling, laughing, and crying at at once... a very Thanksgiving-esque compilation, in fact!
I will not be working, and I will not be doing any classwork for university. I will just be enjoying a homemade meal with my parents since that's the only family I have nearby anyways. Then it's back to the grind for the school semester, and it will also be the last week I have before officially turning 20. :ded:
I have off Thursday, and my boss decided we won't work Friday despite it not being a holiday.
With my current employer, and between my previous work location of Omaha and my current location of Clear Lake, Iowa, I have never worked Thanksgiving, although they do have volunteers who will come in Thanksgiving night to make sure the truck drivers get their stuff.
I just found out I'll be the only one in the building on Friday.
Quote from: jakeroot on November 23, 2020, 04:37:03 PM
I'm not saying the meaning behind the holiday isn't important. But at the end of the day, I'm walking away from a meal and seeing some family, two things that are being advised against in my state.
You can do whatever you want. If it's important to you to gather for your own personal mental stability, so be it. But I've not yet reached that point. Other than not being able to see each other all the time, my family is fine and we haven't lost anyone (and no positive tests). We'll all see each other soon enough.
See, this is good fair advice. Much better than 'anyone who sees their family is Hitler', and much better than 'I am obnoxiously boasting about intentionally trying to get COVID'. Both of those are more or less lines that I've seen on this forum recently.
I have never had to work on Thanksgiving, and now I'm retired so it seems very unlikely that I ever will.
Quote from: 1995hoo on November 24, 2020, 09:42:47 PM
... and my boss decided we won't work Friday despite it not being a holiday.
Hopefully they aren't doing what my company did a few years ago. They decided to give non-essential employees Christmas Eve off. But if you wanted to be paid for it, you had to take a vacation day. (Worked out for me, because they decided IT was essential. Then the boss kicked us all out early.
Quote from: kphoger on November 23, 2020, 04:22:39 PM
Quote from: jakeroot on November 23, 2020, 03:37:14 PM
There's simply no reason for us to have Thanksgiving when the whole point of the holiday is to gather. At the end of the day, it's just a meal.
The Separatists, who had suffered religious persecution because of their beef with the Church of England and their lower socio-economic standing, plus various others–mainly farmers whose way of life was being eroded by the early stages of industrialization–wishing to leave England for a new start in Jamestown colony, all expected to sail across the Atlantic to a company town on a pair of ships. One of those ships was quickly determined to be unfit for the voyage, so it turned around and never sailed again, soon afterward being demolished. Thus, more than 100 folks spent the next couple of months in a space about the size of a volleyball court. With a diet of dried meat, dried peas, and salted fish, several of them developed scurvy. Encountering severe weather while approaching America, they ended up quite a ways off course without much chance of making it to Jamestown. After a few failed attempts at locating a place to harbor around Cape Cod Bay, they eventually found a suitable place with fresh water available, set anchor, and went ashore.
It was now December, and there was no time to build proper housing structures. Instead, this group of "saints and sinners" all shared the same dugout/lean-to for the winter. After having spent the voyage not wanting much to do with each other, the two groups soon found it necessary to get over their differences. A leader was elected, and he kept getting elected every time there was a vote for years to come. With many in ill health from the journey and foodstuff scarce, death came to many. Several diseases spread, one of which was perhaps a yet-unnamed influenza. At one point, there were only seven able-bodied men well enough to dig graves. The alternative to sharing this inadequate, cramped space full of sick people was to spend the winter outdoors in the New England winter–not really an alternative, of course. By the end of winter, roughly half the people had died.
Meanwhile, the company ship remained anchored offshore all winter long, not being able to return till spring, with the crew living halfway comfortably onboard. When spring finally arrived, the opportunity presented itself for people to give up and return home. Many had lost wives, husbands. British fishing techniques didn't work in the new land. Oats didn't grow here. Prospects were bleak. And yet not a single one of them decided to return to England on the Mayflower. For all of them, freedom and a new start in life were worth all the hardships, were worth facing illness and even death.
By a series of seemingly miraculous turns of events, they were greeted by a handful of Natives willing to help the newcomers make a living here–not least of whom was an ex-slave who had already converted to Christianity in Europe and learned English well enough to communicate. They learned to make fishing nets, fertilize hills of Indian corn, etc. Against the odds, the harvest that year yielded enough surplus for them to hold a festival of thanksgiving. The Natives, having killed and brought five deer to the feast, made up more than half of those in attendance. There had been much sorrow during the previous year, much apprehension, much strife, much sickness, much death. Prudent, perhaps, would have been to stockpile what surplus could be stockpiled, and forego such a harvest festival. Yet they determined that it was necessary to have a celebration. They determined to thank God for his blessings, to share with one another, to find joy amidst the tears.
The point of the holiday is not simply "to gather". At the end of the day, it isn't "just a meal". This year more than any previously, I find good reason to gather with my loved ones and kindle a flame of thankfulness. Many of us find ourselves in a season of unease, apprehension, peril, and fear. Some of us have friends and family who have fallen ill, or whom we fear will soon fall ill. Prudent, perhaps, would be to forego the festivities and hunker down in our own huts. But that's not what I intend to do. I intend to celebrate life even in the face of calamity.
Thank You so very much Linus Van Pelt.
I want a medal for being an essential worker in 2 Thanksgiving weekends (before and after Turkey day), my grocery store had 3 cases in night crew since Aug and only one in daytime in Sep (I was told I wasn't near the anonymous person by my manager). We have 100 employees, thus a 4% rate just like the US population and 2.5% of the CA population, we are *very* careful due to the demographic is a majority senior citizens in this retirement community. We care about our customers and they should care about us, we're all in this together.
I can't give you a medal but thanks to all the grocery workers who are continuing to work carefully during the pandemic.
Quote from: kkt on November 29, 2020, 02:00:55 PM
I can't give you a medal but thanks to all the grocery workers who are continuing to work carefully during the pandemic.
It occurred to me the other day (being a long term retail security manager) that I'm on pace for my first year of "perfect attendance" since 2007. If they do certificates at work this year this whole COVID situation is about the only scenario I can envision where I could possibly want it. Otherwise I just want to forget about anything work related from this year and never bring it up ever again.
Quote from: jakeroot on November 23, 2020, 03:37:14 PM
Quote from: kphoger on November 22, 2020, 03:51:17 PM
Quote from: webny99 on November 21, 2020, 02:19:40 PM
Not working, but it's going to be ... different ... just like everything else in 2020.
Should be just the same as always for my family. My parents, my sister and her husband, and the five of us. Dinner at my folks' house. That's the way it is every year.
Here in WA, the governor is strongly advising against gatherings for Thanksgiving. Gathering with ones own household is the only recommendation.
My family always makes a thing about traditions, but we've put things on hold this year. We plan to see each other again by Easter. There's simply no reason for us to have Thanksgiving when the whole point of the holiday is to gather. At the end of the day, it's just a meal.
We are going to do a big Zoom gathering instead. My grandma will make some food, deliver it to us, and then everyone can chat over the internet. Should be interesting and frankly more fun!
At the same time, Thanksgiving can also be considered Just A Meal. After all, People refer to it as: Turkey Day.
Quote from: In_Correct on December 04, 2020, 06:00:43 PM
Quote from: jakeroot on November 23, 2020, 03:37:14 PM
Quote from: kphoger on November 22, 2020, 03:51:17 PM
Quote from: webny99 on November 21, 2020, 02:19:40 PM
Not working, but it's going to be ... different ... just like everything else in 2020.
Should be just the same as always for my family. My parents, my sister and her husband, and the five of us. Dinner at my folks' house. That's the way it is every year.
Here in WA, the governor is strongly advising against gatherings for Thanksgiving. Gathering with ones own household is the only recommendation.
My family always makes a thing about traditions, but we've put things on hold this year. We plan to see each other again by Easter. There's simply no reason for us to have Thanksgiving when the whole point of the holiday is to gather. At the end of the day, it's just a meal.
We are going to do a big Zoom gathering instead. My grandma will make some food, deliver it to us, and then everyone can chat over the internet. Should be interesting and frankly more fun!
At the same time, Thanksgiving can also be considered Just A Meal. After all, People refer to it as: Turkey Day.
That's why it's the best holiday.