I just treat Thanksgiving like any normal day. Why would be I be thankful only one day out of the year?

-30Ayan (Click here to go to his blog!)

Well, it’s done. Thanksgiving came and went, and all we’re left with are weird unidentifiable leftovers of what miiiiiiiiiiight be… turkey? Is that turkey? I think that’s turkey. I’m gonna try it.

Nope, that’s mac & cheese. My bad, everyone.

The first thing about Thanksgiving is that it’s not really one of those big holidays, with all those flashy celebrations. It’s just kinda stuck in the middle, placed into a spot where people are still eating all their Halloween candy but also waiting for Christmas to happen, so by the time Thanksgiving rolls around, all people really want to do is sit around watching the Macy’s, eat some turkey, and call it a day.

The second thing about Thanksgiving is that its mascot is actually eaten at the end of the day. Turkey Day isn’t much fun if you’re the turkey. This doesn’t seem to happen with any other holidays, except maybe Halloween by the loosest definition, and even then, you don’t really break out the pumpkin pie until (ta-da!) Thanksgiving. Still, it’s a little weird. Would you eat Santa? Or a leprechaun? Then again, almost all other holiday mascots are human or human-ish, so that would be weird.

And the third thing about Thanksgiving is that it’s supposed to be this big thing, like the whole month of November leads up to it or something, but in the end, you only do like 2 or 3 things and then break out the Christmas decorations. Little kids are taught that you’re supposed to be thankful all day, and then they make adorable little turkeys out of construction paper and go back to being unthankful (that word looks really wrong) the next day.

In a way, Thanksgiving is a bit of a bane to its own existence, because it sort of absorbs all of the thanks that could be dispensed in a year into one singular day, and leaves unthankfulness throughout every single empty space, which, in today’s “Age of Over-Abbreviation,” is every single space. (I call this the “Age of Over-Abbreviation” because, for example, people used to say “Good morning,” and now they just say “morning,” and I’m like, “Yes, it is morning, thank you for that.”)

The story of Thanksgiving is that a bunch of pilgrims came to America and were pretty much helpless, so the Native Americans in the area taught them how to hunt and cook and stuff. As a way of giving thanks, the pilgrims threw a big feast, and we’ve celebrated ever since.

Well, I did say “story”. Most of this isn’t as true as most people believe.

A Bunch of Pilgrims Came to America

When you hear “pilgrim”, what’s the first thing that pops into your mind? Probably this:

That’s not really what they look like. This stereotype was created by artistic license. Artists drew what they thought would look old-timey, and here we are. Nobody would actually ever dress like that, though. Ridiculously impractical. I don’t even like yellow belt buckles.

The assumption that all male pilgrims dressed like this is about as reasonable as the assumption that purple is a shade of yellow.

(If you ever did actually assume that purple was a shade of yellow, please comment below and I will get you the help you need.)

The pilgrims dressed like normal people (for that time). Think about it. If you were going on a death-defying maybe-surviving trip of a lifetime, would you put your belt on your hat?

Pretty Much Helpless

There’s also the fact that most people gloss over what happened before the feast. Many pilgrims died because they had absolutely no idea how to plant crops or make shelter. Winters were cold and hard. Nobody was certain if they would actually survive. This land that they had “colonized” was giving them a hard life.

The Native Americans in the Area

I say “colonized” with quotation marks because in reality, the land belonged to the Wampanoag people. But of course, the pilgrims didn’t even consider considering that. Nope, they just saw land, so they took it. At least, they thought they did.

The Wampanoag formed a bit of a strategic alliance with the pilgrims, instead of the whole “great friends” thing that stories today gave us. The pilgrims and the Wampanoag didn’t entirely trust one another, but the Wampanoag decided to share the secrets of hunting and planting.

Finally, the pilgrims could (for the most part) stop dying all over the place, and in 1621, they held a feast.

The Pilgrims Threw a Big Feast

There was no turkey at the first Thanksgiving feast.

Most people assume there was turkey. I mean, why wouldn’t there be turkey? There’s always been turkey! Turkey is the sole reason for the existence of Thanksgiving and quite possibly society as a whole!

But there wasn’t always turkey.

In fact, a lot of classic Thanksgiving foods weren’t at the first Thanksgiving feast. The classic Thanksgiving foods are as follows:

WASN’T AT THE FEAST:

• Turkey
• Cranberries
• Pumpkin Pie
• Man n’ Cheese
• Gravy

WAS AT THE FEAST:

• Cornbread

._.

And We’ve Celebrated It Ever Since

The first Thanksgiving, in 1621, was full of celebration, food, and general happiness.

The second Thanksgiving, in 1623, was more or less the same.

The third Thanksgiving was in 1863.

240 years had passed, and America was going through a Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln made a proclamation to observe the last Thursday of November every year as Thanksgiving, a day of giving thanks. And we’ve celebrated it ever since.

It’s been 160 years since Thanksgiving was announced as a national holiday.

It’s been 302 years since Thanksgiving was created.

And still, America relies on one day to be thankful.

But I think it would be much better if we were thankful every day.

Don’t you?