La-Z-Boys, Laurent and Luxurious Living: Giving Thanks

James Edmonds | Staff writer

“(908): How am I?!! The turkey is dry as shit, I’m watching football in low def and there’s no beer b/c everyone is in aa.” The popular website, “TextsFromLastNight” featured that text shortly after Thanksgiving night. While I did laugh when I first read it, the tone of the text is a tad bit disturbing.

On a day when we are called to give thanks for the good things we have in our lives, the texter in question from area code 908 decided to complain instead. That might be something I could overlook if (we’ll call him/her Texter) Texter were feeling low because Texter couldn’t spend time with the Texter family, or perhaps even if Texter had fallen on hard times and couldn’t afford to overindulge in turkey and cranberry sauce. However, that wasn’t the case. Texter was grumpy because the turkey wasn’t as moist as Paula Deen’s, the Packers weren’t Lambeau leaping out of his/her television, and he/she couldn’t get drunk. Life’s tough sometimes.

As much as I really wanted to bash on this one TFLN for an entire editorial, his/her feelings toward Thanksgiving closely mirror my own. I expect Thanksgiving to be a day of eating fantastic food and reclining in a La-Z-Boy chair while watching football in a cyclical pattern. There were a grand total of two things I consciously felt grateful for on Thanksgiving this year: not having to work on Thanksgiving, and Laurent Robinson’s 19- point fantasy performance against the Dolphins.

There were so many more things I should have acknowledged and been grateful for this past Thursday. Time with my family, despite their questionable sanity, tops the list. I’m also thankful for the great weather we had, the amazing meal I ate, the ability to run and play to attempt to burn off some of the 20,000 calories I consumed over the countless courses I had and the worry-free state I spent the day in. I didn’t spend a single second worrying about homework, exams or upcoming bills. I am very thankful for that.

I know that I’m not the only one who didn’t approach this Thanksgiving as I should have, but I can’t tell anyone that they should improve their attitude because I don’t even know that I will be better about it next year. It’s much more likely that I’ll continue to take much of my good fortune for granted. I am thankful, though, for everything that allows me to continue living a life of relative luxury, even when I don’t stop to consciously appreciate it.