Somewhere, in the back of someone's fridge, is still some turkey left over from the Thanksgiving feast. While that bird is aging, yet another probably looms on the horizon. It's the in between days. Those days when some are still recovering from the last holiday, Thanksgiving, and preparing for the next, Christmas.
But wait ... as they say on the TV commercials ... there is more to come. There is yet another set of in between days. Time to recover again from yet more acts of gluttony and make ready for the really big celebration ... New Year.
I've often wondered how the final days of our calendar year might be interpreted by someone totally unfamiliar with our culture. Perhaps, their final report might read something like this:
During the weeks I spent observing this society I discovered they exhibit many strange behaviors. There seems to be a fascination with a strange looking bird called a turkey. I have seen replicas of this creature wearing such odd items as a pilgrim style hat to buckle shoes. It is even celebrated on a bottle of potent drink. Then, on a designated day the masses bake, fry, smoke and roast and devour this bird.
The very next day hoards of people descend on merchants seemingly stripping them of their wares. This is often referred to as a shopping spree. Although to me it looks more like a battle spree. Or, the mass release of mentally ill people into a small space.
During the in between days, from what they call Thanksgiving until the next celebration, Christmas, is spent rushing from place to place and store to store and hanging lights and decorations in just about every place one can imagine. There must be a significance between a star and some obese human who dresses like a prude version of a old male stripper.
Then there is Christmas when everyone presents everyone else with trinkets and overpriced items, as well as, just plain garish garments. Once again, they devour the ugly bird they call a turkey.
The next two or three or four days are spent recuperating from the amount of food they have ingested and examining the things received a little closer and realizing the debt they have incurred. But, there is no time for introspection. They must get ready for another celebration. It is the feast of the New Year when alcohol flows freely and inhibitions are lost in the old year.
Perhaps the most remarkable day, not the day following the night's debauchery, but the second day after it. Many are still suffering from hangovers and indigestion and wondering how they are going to pay for everything. Yet, in this strange society you hear the question over and over: "Did you have fun?" And, the response is overwhelmingly: "Yes."
And people question me when I ask them ... "How much fun can I have before I'm damned?"
