Chunk 38: Thanksgiving? Give thanks for what exactly?

Of the increasing number of US customs that have gradually crept into our culture (Valentine’s Day, Halloween, etc.), so far we Australians have shown very little appetite to get around Thanksgiving.

That’s the American national holiday where families traditionally come together to give thanks for the year’s harvest by carving up a large turkey, which is usually accompanied by a side of mashed potatoes, squash, green beans, pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce.

Other sides include watching a big football game or the famous Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade which, like so much else in the world, has had to be “reimagined” in 2020 due to the Coronavirus.

This year, you imagine there’ll be a lot of Americans searching for something - anything - to be thankful for. Perhaps it’s that you’re not among among the 260,000+ already dead from the virus, with thousands more predicted?

It’s often said that holidays are when people can feel the loneliest. That must be especially true now for American families, actively being discouraged from gathering together for fear they might make one other sick.

But, looking on the bright side, perhaps it’s a good thing? Sitting around a dining table as talk turns to the topic of the moment - i.e. politics - doesn’t sound like anybody’s idea of a good time. Given the closeness of the recent election result, it seems a mathematical certainty that at least one seated guest believes that Donald Trump shouldn’t concede, while another thinks that the transition on 20 January can’t come soon enough. Oh, and would you please pass the gravy?

I’d have just thought if Trump wanted to keep his job so badly (as opposed to do his job so badly), now would be the time when he’d be giving it his absolute best. (Or is this it?) What better way to pressure for a second term than to try and stop the second Covid wave? But unfortunately, the opposite seems to be true.

Still, at least there seems some good news on the Covid 19 front, with yesterday’s announcement that Operation Warp Speed has led to a vaccine that’s proven 94.5% successful. Now all they have to do is find a cure for the 43.5% of Americans who still support their outgoing warped president.