There ain’t a lot to be thankful for these days, and that’s me being optimistic and cheery. But despite the lousy news out there and the final exams you know you haven’t studied for coming up in two weeks, I say live it up and relax this Thanksgiving.
Just as it seems administrators ignored the referendum on the Talley Student Center indebtedness fee, I say everyone should ignore that entire situation for the break. The fee is onto the Board of Governors of the UNC System, who may or may not approve, regardless of the Oct. 5 vote. Just forget the huge cuts to the University budget, which resulted in crowded classes, fewer sections and less out-of-class educational resources like the Tutorial Center for foreign languages.
Similarly, victory seems to be a foreign concept for some of our athletic teams. I’d describe the football season, in conservative terms, as “a major disappointment.” And even though both basketball teams are looking strong early, I’m not going to start counting my eggs before they hatch. Would I be very thankful for a win Saturday against that school up in Chapel Hill? You bet. Am I pinning my holiday hopes on it? I think I’ll just have a couple more beers over the Giants-Broncos game to simulate the warm feeling of happiness.
You can simply ignore the fact lawmakers in Washington are stalling on vital health care reform, throwing every sort of lie and piece of misinformation up regarding the proposed legislation. The bottom line is that EVERY health care system for an industrialized nation will ration health care and there is only so much this basic plan can do to expand coverage and improve quality of care.
And be thankful for everything but the continuing circus around the War on Terror. After all, serious people in the government just know terrorists will use trials in the judicial system to recruit more terrorists and destroy America, thus forcing us to bomb more countries into submission, allowing us once again to declare “Mission Accomplished.” For any serious person would know the laws that regulate protecting classified materials in regular courts are weak, despite previous high-profile trials of terror suspects with similar amounts of classified information.
And of course, our government does not torture — at least while we are at the Thanksgiving dinner table. Such talk is just terrible table conversation, particularly for those who wish to enjoy their dinners. The only thing I want to see placed in stress positions is the big old turkey I’m helping to cook Thursday morning — the thing’s already dead, so only PETA will complain.
Bottom line: just eat your turducken or tofurkey and enjoy a big old piece of some sort of pie. Enjoy the fact that you aren’t in class for a change right before being plunged into the hell of Dead Week. Cheer on the Giants Thanksgiving night (or suffer my wrath). Forget the fact that you have all sorts of crap to do for your paper due after the break.
There’s enough crap out there. And while ignoring it is not an option, you are entitled to a break, at least for now.
