I have commented about this before on another blog, but never written a post of my own concerning it.
On Monday we had our Thanksgiving lunch at work. Before we ate the president of the company did a prayer thanking God for our food and friendships. This has also often happened when my wife and I go to a cookout or dinner at her sister’s house with a large group of religious people.
Every time this happens, I always wonder why everyone thanks God and not the people that actually allowed the food to be sitting there in front of us?
We should be thanking the farmers for the turkeys and vegetables. My grandparents had a farm before I was born, and though I never visited it, I heard enough stories from them and my father that I knew farming was not the greatest job around. I can only imagine the conditions of being a poultry worker. I for one thank them, I know I wouldn’t want that job, but I do want to eat turkey.
Then there are the workers at the canning/frozen food factories. Probably not as difficult a job as a farmer or poultry worker, but still thankless in the big scheme of things. I have worked in a factory before and can attest this is true.
What about the truck drivers getting the food to my grocer? That’s another job, that me sitting in my cubicle, I know I wouldn’t want to do. I beg out of a 5 hour drive to Lubbock so I can take a plane there instead; I know I couldn’t handle driving for a living.
And speaking of the grocer, I remember a time when nearly every store was closed on Thanksgiving except the 7-11′s. now nearly every grocery store is open. Can’t forget about the almighty dollar, so those in retail don’t get the holiday off like the majority of us do. And don’t forget even if you are a retailer that gets Thursday off, chances are you are getting up at the butt-crack of dawn to go to work for Black Friday. That almighty dollar again. I think we know another god this country worships.
I am sure there are plenty more thankless jobs out there that help get my turkey and all the trimming to my table every Thanksgiving. So if you are like me and get caught into giving thanks to an imaginary being, do what I do, and silently think of all of those people and thank them and hope they are able to enjoy their holiday as much as you do. And even if you are religious, you should still give thanks to the right people as well as the god you believe in.
Great post. I would argue that christianity actually enables a disconnect between the producer and the consumer. “Bless god from whom all blessings flow” seems to be a mantra among some christianists. But, as you say, if we bless some invisible gut up in the sky, does this mean that the actual workers are worth less? Would we (as a society) be so quick to enable WalMart, Southland and all the other low wage/low benefit companies if we were actually aware of the amount of labour going into our products?
I shop at two grocery stores. Wegmans and a local company called Sunshine. Things often cost a bit more. The reason I shop at these stores is because of the way they treat their employees, their willingness to buy local produce, the scholarships they offer, and (for Wegmans (a small chain in NY and PA) the way they promote management from within. These stores are forced to stay open at least part of thanksgiving (there is a superWalmar around the corner), I understand this. But I also think that thinking about where I shop can, if enough do it, make the world a better place (not much, but a little).
Happy thanksgiving. I am thankful for my family, and, thanks to you, will include being thankful for the ones producing my food (and hopefully getting paid enough to live.)
Enjoying the chilly cold front that hit our town this morning? I sure am.
We had some friends over to our house for our annual meal of enchiladas, red chile and posole (no turkey in our family!). Some of the friends I invited were old church buddies who no doubt were expecting from me the traditional prayer before the big meal. Instead, I thanked each person personally for being a part of my and my wife’s world, and giving us a rich lives and being great people. I did not thank God, instead I individually thanked each person there.
No complaints from anyone – just smiles all around. I think they all got it. We had a great time at the HeIsSailing house.
Happy Thanksgiving, Cragar.
I am down in Floriday for Thanksgiving (inlaws). We went over to Blue Springs today to watch Manatees and discovered that the SeaWorld rescue unit was there, A manatee was sick and they planned to capture it and transport it to the SeaWorld hospital. While we were watching, I overheard a conversation that both infuriated me and reminded me of this post. The line that caught my attention was “Thank God somebody noticed it was sick.” Then, “Yeah, and thank the Lord (I could hear the capital letters) that someone has a hospital for sick manatees.”
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!
Never mind that there was a Florida State Parks ranger in a beat up canoe with faded paint lettered “Manatee Research” — apparently god was the one who noticed a problem. Not the state park rangers. Not the underpaid researches. Not the unpaid volunteers (I know, redundant). No. This christianist thanked god.
I guess its not just thanksgiving where the wrong people get thanked.
Billy–Thanks again for the comments. Glad you are reading.
HIS–And then the snow on Saturday. Two winters in a row with snowstorms of 5+ inches in the desert after 10 years or more of nothing. We have our posole meal on New Years Day. You’ve got me craving it already!