Thanksgivin'

The rest of the world doesn't really celebrate Thanksgiving like Americans. Obviously. It's basically the Pilgrims being really thankful that they didn't die their first year in the new world. Imagine if you traveled to uncharted territory and didn't die. I would say that's grounds for celebration. But it wasn't just that...it was that the Native New Worldlians with darker skin helped them adjust to the terrible climate (according to my 5 year old nieces books). Yes, they are now teaching youngins' that when the Pilgrims and Indians worked together, we create a society. There obviously were rocky starts but that's now who we are. Most of the descendants of the Pilgrims certainly believe they are a part Native American. I say, if you're born here, you are Native American. But I think people take pride in being part Indian.

So the natural conversation for a lot of these assholes is the Syrian migration. Or rather refugees. That's cool. I think it is actually an appropriate comparison. We are suppose to be the Indians in the scenario. The Pilgrims are the Syrians. We are suppose to welcome them to the land (of which...if we were honest, none of us own, it belongs to nature...right? Like that Malibu home is mine as much as it is yours). It's going to be a bumpy start and sure a few scalps will be taken. Eventually we will settle down. Now...I wonder...
...let's pretend the Indians didn't fully accept the Pilgrims into their new lands. Would a war occur? Pilgrims gave the Indians disease. Mocked them. Then took their land. Would that also be a comparison? Not sure. But political shit aside, it is a nice heart warming story to believe that indigenous people are so welcoming. I would guess the Indians looked upon the Pilgrims as leery as we looked at Syrians. Until they were able to kill things. Like turkeys. And a fattening meal was born. This could all be bullshit, and we just like tradition. I love tradition. I still watch the Charlie Brown movies over it. And quite frankly, NEVER wanted Chuck to kick that football out of Lucy's hold. Why? Nothing more than tradition. It makes sense.

What am I thankful for? That I do have a family that seems to be happy when I visit. That I have my health. That I stopped boozing hard. That I appreciate the little things in life. And I have to believe these refugees stuck in the purgatory must want the same. Am I a bleeding heart...if you read any of my shit, I am not. But, during this time, the goodwill towards man will outweigh our hatred of cowardly acts by extremist. It's not that I feel that we win or lose if we follow through with our kindness. It's that it's hard to want to kill people who offer you kindness. Obviously, we're not dealing with people who share the same ideology. But it may give them pause.
Happy Thanksgiving to all.