Thanksgiving is the question…
The great American holiday of Thanksgiving gives us an opportunity
to contemplate our eating habits in a deeper than usual way. Thanksgiving
festivities of late (and this year is sure to be no different)
include a rather immodest meal, likely complete with at least
three uniquely delicious courses. It’s Monday and I can
smell the stuffing, mashed potatoes, and dessert pastries baking
already… With this much food available, an unspoken Thanksgiving
tradition has inevitably emerged. That is, eat as much as you
possibly can, literally until the point of being sick to the stomach.
In my humble opinion, this is simply a bad idea...
Thanksgiving is, and should be, a happy and joyous occasion.
Most of the work force halts for Thanksgiving, giving us a rare
opportunity to spend an unencumbered day with the company of our
choice. Personally I look forward to Thanksgiving every year,
as it’s one of the few times I get to visit my hometown.
So in a purely selfish sense, I, like everyone else, want to have
a great Thanksgiving holiday.
Contrary to popular belief (at least before the big feast), stuffing
our faces until we are sick will not help to achieve this goal,
no matter how good the food is. Let me make a clarification here.
Please don’t think I’m suggesting that we all drink
those putrid diet shakes (or these days I should say eat protein
bars) for Thanksgiving. A good, filling meal does indeed provide
a unique sense of satisfaction. It’s just a question of
how filling.
Our Thanksgiving predicament is that plenty of people eat about
four times what they normally would, instead of perhaps a nice
extra helping. Common sense (and an eight-hour agonizing stomachache)
dictates that this is not a very healthy practice.
Now, you might argue convincingly that once in a while this sort
of feasting is not going to have any detrimental long-term effect.
That may very well be true, but it doesn’t change the fact
that stuffing ourselves to the point of sickness ruins the Thanksgiving
holiday. Why? After necessitating an overdose of a favorite antacid,
naturally all we want to do is sleep off the eight-hour agonizing
stomachache. This is valuable time we should be spending with
our family and friends, participating in some fun game, sport,
or activity. (People have pointed out that sleep is fun –
ok - but I guess I had something a little more interactive in
mind)
