BenjaBlog: November 2005

"What is Turkey Day without turkey?" These were the words of my cousin William, and I totally agree. Only once before can I remember a Thanksgiving feast lacking turkey, and this year we had ham instead. Although there was plenty of ham to go around, I was ready to eat a turkey sandwich on the side, just for the sake of having turkey! Thanksgiving Dinner (or, more correctly, Thanksgiving Lunch) this year was great, but there was something lacking. There's just something about the taste of turkey that makes it the perfect meat for Thanksgiving. I don't know what it is about it, maybe it's because that's about the only time in the year that we ever eat it.

However much I like turkey on Thanksgiving, I think it is something more than just turkey itself which behooves me to disappointment. I believe it is tradition. It is not the lack of turkey, but the change with which it comes that I dislike. If I had eaten pizza every Thanksgiving my entire life, and this year was forced to have hamburgers instead, naturally I would protest. For some reason, I am generally opposed to change. I like things to be just like they always have been. Periodically, my mother rearranges the furniture in our house, much to my confusion, with the words, "variety is the spice of life." Well maybe it is, but for me, some things just aren't meant to have a variety.

Although I generally dislike change, I realise that sometimes it is inevitable, and, occasionally, beneficial. This year, we did not even go anywhere for Thanksgiving, which is itself untraditional, since we used to go up to the panhandle for Thanksgiving.
One thing, however, that I do not entirely understand is the initiation of tradition. When do traditions start? Obviously, they are things which are done many times, but I think that traditions do not start with a conscious decision. Rather, they are things which, when repeated enough times, become so that those participating do not even think of changing or ending them. This is the point at which it becomes a tradition. I do not say that traditions cannot be consciously started, but I believe most begin as a result of my aforementioned description.

Have a happy Thanksgiving!

Labels: opinions