Classic Rant #624 (November 23, 2011): How Will You Choose To Celebrate Thanksgiving?

Well, it is the day before the Thanksgiving holiday.

And the day before the day before Black Friday.

How do you choose to spend your holiday?

My family and I will be celebrating the holiday at my sister's house this year. For the past several years, we have made the big turkey at our house, but this year, it will be over at my sister's abode.

My parents will be there, and it will give me a chance to see three of my nephews.

I don't know if I will see my daughter. She has been out of sight, out of mind for the past few weeks. I don't really know why.

On Black Friday, I plan to not get involved in all the sales hoopla of the day.

Last year, I got a terrific deal on a computer for my mother, which I bought for her 80th birthday. It was something I could not pass up, so, for the first time in memory, I got up real early on this day, and waited in line for the store to open. And I got the last one they had at such a price.

This year, my pocketbook will hopefully rest for that day.

But you never know ...

This is the oddest holiday period of the year, going from one extreme to the next.

Thanksgiving is such a joyous holiday, very family oriented. I really like that aspect of it, and it is my favorite holiday on the calendar, along with Passover, which, similarly, is family oriented.

Then we have Black Friday, a day where all of the animalistic instincts of our species come out. People are generally nasty, rude, vulgar, and hateful, because they are all out to do one thing: buy, buy, and buy some more.

I can live without Black Friday, I really can.

So it is really up to the individual to choose how he will celebrate the holiday.

Will you bask in the joyousness of Thanksgiving, or burn in the insensitivity of Black Friday?

Or will you do both?

Me, I am going to relax as much as I can.

I am very happy to be off from work on both days, so I have what amounts to a four-day holiday to recharge my batteries.

Have a great holiday. Speak to you again on Monday.