A Thanksgiving Story
Happy Thanksgiving 2009, Rampant Games readers in the U.S. For the half or more of you that read from other countries: Happy Thursday!

Thanksgiving is a four-day weekend for many (non-retail) businesses here. Including mine. And it generally means a LOT of fun at the ol' Coyote Den. It wasn't always this way. As a kid, Thanksgiving often meant a feast involving a lot of relatives you really don't like, playing nice, and getting bored stiff. The food was good. The rest was sorta like one of those mandatory team meetings at work where the H.R. department is going over new policy. It needs to be done, but it's not particularly enjoyable. And then we had Thanksgiving leftovers we were eating all the way until Christmas. Hey, not that I am ungrateful for having an abundance of food - but it did get pretty old eating turkey sandwiches, turkey casserole, and ... more turkey... for three weeks straight.

My first Thanksgiving away from home was at college. I was going to school in Utah, lived on the East Coast, and couldn't really afford to fly home and back for a short weekend (especially when I'd be flying back for Christmas only three or four weeks later). So my first Thanksgiving, I spent with some relatives of my roommate.

Worst. Thanksgiving. Ever.

His uncle's family made me believe my own family was actually normal. I was immediately accused (multiple times) upon arrival of trying to smuggle alcohol or drugs into the house. Nevermind that I didn't drink, either. It all went downhill from there. I was pretty uncomortable the whole time. We had Thanksgiving lasagna which was more like soup. I hid most of the day Friday by watching the entire Star Wars trilogy down in their basement on a wide-screen TV... when I wasn't studying. At least I could retreat. While I appreciated them taking me in like they did, it was not much fun.

After that, I decided that staying on campus by myself for Thanksgiving wouldn't be nearly as bad. As it turns out, the following year we had a few other friends in similar situations. Most from our RPG gaming group. We called it the "orphans' Thanksgiving." Anybody we knew who had no place to go could join us. So we all brought food, chipped in together for a turkey, and got together for several straight days of Dungeons & Dragons, boardgames, videos, and eating Thanksgiving leftovers. On Saturday, the leftovers were mostly gone and we were sick of turkey sandwiches anyway, so we all ordered pizza.

It was the Best Thanksgiving Ever. With friends. Hanging out and having a party. And gaming. A lot.

We've been doing pretty much the same thing ever since. Due to all of us having real families now, we actually leave the Thursday of Thanksgiving alone for families (and friends who have no other place to go), though there's still some serious video-game playing that goes on. (Tetris Plus, for the original Playstation, is something of a tradition now). We keep things pretty "open house"-y, relaxed, and casual. Plenty of food, and hey - if things get dull, it's time for some Rock Band!

Friday and Saturday are serious, serious gaming days. All day. It's rough with so many children who need attention, so we take frequent breaks, but we have managed to keep pulling it off. We pool our Thanksgiving leftovers together for munching on throughout both days. And - as is our tradition - we're usually low on food by Saturday evening (and the remaining leftovers are looking a little scary), so we all pitch in for pizza. And we don't find ourselves eating Thanksgiving leftovers all the way to Christmas.

So, for Thanksgiving, I am thankful for a lot of things. I'm lucky to have a good job in these conditions. I have health, a wonderful family, and I live in an awesome era of history in a great country. But for me, this holiday has come to mean three things that I really value in life: Family, friends, and fun. It's a time to be happy.

I hope you are, too.

Labels: Geek Life

- posted by The Rampant Coyote @ 12:13 PM (Permalink)