Thanksgiving’s late this year, for which I’m thankful. I must be nearing retirement age because I really could use a little more time off. Of course, I’m a big fan of holidays and I wish our late capitalistic system might throw a few more bones to the dogs. Autumn is always my favorite season. In September I feel the migratory urge of the classroom, but that’s an unrealized desire now, so I set my eyes on Labor Day and Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Some of the more progressive employers give the latter off. From there I can see Halloween, although it’s often a working day. Still, it’s Halloween. It’s yet a long stretch from there to Thanksgiving, but if I’m careful with my vacation days I can take a few long weekends as stepping stones to this four-day weekend.
I’m not being sarcastic or facetious at all. I don’t believe I could survive the calendar year without the holidays and I am deeply, deeply grateful for them. Capitalism seems to have a death grip on the idea of people as “assets”—a brand of thinking that should be buried with a stake through its heart. People are people and we work for a living. We don’t sell our souls for health care and a roof over our heads. The internet has increased productivity immensely, but most companies are reluctant to consider the costs of overwork. When you can check your work email from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., for those of you who can stay up late, don’t you think that a few more holidays might prevent burnout? Do assets burn out? Engine parts have to be replaced when they wear out. Why are we so slow to learn the lesson?
Today we reflect on the things for which we are thankful. Even in difficult times there are many. I’m thankful to live in a world with books in it, for one. On those rare days off I read, trying to catch up with an ever-growing stack of intellectual stimulation. And I try my best to contribute to literary life, although my books appeal to few. I’m thankful for hope. Without it this last year would’ve been impossible. And I’m thankful for family and friends, whether actual or virtual. This is an interesting world that I’ve come to inhabit. The more I learn the more there’s left still to learn. And with Thanksgiving so late this year, Christmas is less than a month away. I look ahead and I’m thankful.
