Bust Out Your Thanksgiving Pants!

With Thanksgiving right around the corner (literally, considering it is tomorrow), I thought it would be fitting to talk about food…oh, and family, too!

The first order of business, however, is to reference the Friends Thanksgiving episode. Monica was not planning on making a turkey, but after the fuss Joey makes about it she agrees; however, he promises to finish the entire turkey (no easy feat as you will see if you watch the link attached above). And here our story begins! After attempting to eat all of the turkey in one sitting, Joey stands up claiming that a change of pants is in order (jeans have no give after all)! He reenters the apartment wearing some rather interesting pants that Phoebe immediately identifies as her maternity pants. Alas, they are Thanksgiving pants now! Joey then proceeds to finish off the turkey, and so conquers his mighty opponent; his Everest.

So ladies and gents, bust out your Thanksgiving pants! Take them out tonight, maybe wash them, air them, make them smell nice, all to get them ready for their big role!

Now, I will assume that tomorrow you have come prepared to eat, Thanksgiving pants in tow (I understand if you must keep up appearances until right before the feast). You will all gather around the table (or wherever tradition takes you) and begin conversing…but mainly eating. After all, Thanksgiving is not only about its rich history, but food, family, more food, family pestering (good naturedly, but still, pestering), and a whole lot more food.

It is when you are all seated that relatives you don’t see often let their questions fly. Parents and siblings are only too happy to hop on this bandwagon in hopes of gleaning as much information as possible about your personal life that you don’t deign to share with them on a regular basis (although what makes them think that you are likely to let it all out, so to speak, to your relatives, in their presence, I don’t know).

(Sidenote: I realize this is a blog about being single, and yet, I hope that you can see that I am indeed leading up to that. However, I shall not belabor the point as tomorrow is supposed to be a festive, joyous time and no one needs to be forced to endure more of the topic of being single.)

As dating and relationships tend to comprise a large part of an individual’s life, it is predictable that the conversation turns down that path. Grandma might jumpstart the conversation: “So, honey, how are things going with you? How’s your job? Have you talked to so-and-so lately? Have you been going out a lot?” Warning bells start going off with this question, if they haven’t been from the beginning. We all know where this is heading. “Are you dating anyone? Why not? Are you really dating someone and just not telling us?” Thanks Grandma.

To be perfectly honest, because of the delicious food – which vastly improves my mood – and with the thought of dessert quickly to follow, my spirits remain upbeat. I answer their questions as I typically do and craftily (in my opinion at least) change the topic, imbuing the atmosphere humor and wit! Collecting their laughs as my due, the evening continues on joyously (see, the thought of all that food is improving my mood as we speak…I’m waxing lyrical about my own humor and wit of all things!)

I suppose what I’m driving at here is that if you have your Thanksgiving pants on, you can endure countless questions about your status and maintain a positive outlook throughout!

Happy eating!