Rants
On Family Bonding
By Alexandria Johnson, Deputy News Editor
Don’t get me wrong — I love Thanksgiving. I love waking up at 7 a.m. to cook food and eating it at the end of the night. The feeling of seeing a dish come out of the oven and onto my table is unlike any other. But I hate that, every year, Thanksgiving is promoted as a time to come together with family. For people like myself who don’t necessarily have the best family members or used college as a way to leave home, it doesn’t really do us justice. I hate the awkward conversations I have with family members when they’re trying to ask what I’m majoring in or counting down the time I have to finish. I invited my last boyfriend to my family’s Thanksgiving, and then after we broke up, they still ask about him. Also, there’s always that problematic family member who still refuses to accept that all of the derogatory terms that come out of their mouth are unacceptable. It’s why I like Friendsgiving: while you can’t choose your family, at least you can choose your friends.
On Selective Education
By Mandie Montes, Deputy Copy Chief
Thanksgiving break is problematic. Well, not so much the break, but more so the word and idea behind Thanksgiving. It irks me that I’ve grown up in a society that has made a whole thing out of the oppression of Native Americans. What’s worse is that I didn’t know how problematic this was until I decided to learn about this on my own. The education system failed me!!!! In any case, rather than saying “Happy Thanksgiving” (which I’m only doing now to prove a point), I now say “gobble gobble” because it’s funny, and though it may still be tethered to the idea of Thanksgiving, it is really only about the turkey.
Raves
On Getting Lost in the Sauce
By Ethan Zack, Music Editor
God, I go absolutely apesh-t for canned cranberry sauce. It has to have one of the most advanced flavor palettes I’ve ever tasted. There are 364 days of the year when I am thinking nonstop about that sauce. The one day I’m not thinking about it is when I’m shoveling heaps of it onto my plate. The mere sight of that Ocean Spray-branded can is enough to get me salivating. I can’t control myself at the Thanksgiving table. Scoop after scoop of cranberry sauce is piled up in front of me before I even realize it. Did I do that? Everything’s a blur. Turkey? Mashed potatoes? Pies? F-ck it, all I need is that weird red gelatinous cylinder and I’m set. It’s the time of year when we should give thanks for the most important things in our lives, the things that keep us going each and every day. I’m thankful for cranberry sauce.
On Black Friday Breakfast
By Sam Klein, Managing Editor
Every Thanksgiving, my mom makes at least two delicious pumpkin pies. They’re really, really good. We have them for dessert on Thursday, naturally, but there tends to be at least some left over, so one of my favorite family traditions is having them for breakfast on Black Friday (PieDay?). Depending how many hungry family members are around and how many pies there are, this can be varyingly competitive, but there is usually some left if I don’t wake up too late. This Thanksgiving, I’m thankful for my mom teaching me that eating pie for breakfast is OK, a lesson which has remained near and dear to my heart, unlike the other since-forgotten lessons I learned as a kid. When I was little, I did not regularly receive permission to have pie for breakfast, but I can now eat pie for every meal of every day. I don’t, Mom, don’t worry. I promise.
On Thanksgiving as the Best Holiday
By Bela Kirpalani, Sports Editor
Look, I know there are many problems with the history of Thanksgiving (genocide, cultural appropriation, you name it). However, if we look at it today, we see a strong case for Thanksgiving to be crowned the best American holiday. Family, food, gratitude — that’s what it’s all about. People coming together, not to see what presents they got this year, but to spend time with their loved ones, stuff their faces and reflect on their #blessings. “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” is a cinematic masterpiece, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is absolutely iconic and the food — oh my god, the food. Apple pie, mashed potatoes, mac ‘n’ cheese, cornbread, stuffing. Name a better amalgamation of tastes. You simply can’t do it.
On Pie
By Abby Hofstetter, Opinion Editor
Pie is the best dessert and anyone who says otherwise is a liar.
Opinions expressed on the editorial pages are not necessarily those of WSN, and our publication of opinions is not an endorsement of them.
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