Giving holiday thanks
Editorial

I hate holidays. They are overly marketed and everyone is expected to be generous and cheerful. Take Valentine’s Day for example; couples everywhere are expected to spend loads of money flaunting their love. Why? I think it’s a scam to make the single people of our world feel unjust and pitiful.

Holidays wouldn’t be so bad if we gave the same benefits to holidays like Canada Day as we do for Christmas, where stores close and everyone gets the day off. Speaking of which, Christmas is another holiday that annoys me. Sure, it’s great to have a day to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, but most families don’t even go to church on Christmas! But as long as there are presents under the tree the next morning, the spirit of the day won’t be forgotten...

I appreciate the thought behind Thanksgiving. It is a day to give thanks, a day to realize how lucky you are for all the gifts that you have been blessed with, and hopefully share your thanks by giving to someone else. However, it’s hard to give thanks when there seems to be so much that I am not thankful for.

First of all, I am not thankful for the price it costs to go to school. With my pathetic student loan and minimum wage job, I find myself struggling to get by. I am not thankful that I continuously find myself unable to spend money when I go out on weekends either. I cannot afford a new outfit whenever I want to dress up for a night out or have the opportunity to buy a pitcher of beer every time I walk into the Owl. Money, obviously, is my biggest burden. Without, I feel that I have no sense of freedom.

With that said, there are things that I am thankful for. Though I complain about the cost of my education, I should really be thankful for the cost of my independence. I am a woman living in a free country that allows me to attend not only high school, but post-secondary school as well. On top of that, I have a government that is willing to lend me money in order to make my success come true. Many children living in third world countries are not even given the opportunity to finish elementary school, and the thought of women having a continued education is unthinkable.

My complaints about spending money seem sheepish as well. While it can be a pain in the ass to be the designated driver whenever my friends and I head out to the bar, I think the fact that I can simply leave my house without fear is something to be thankful for.

So while I do find it easy to complain about pointless holidays, I am going to re-think my complaints about Thanksgiving. It seems all too easy to complain about how hard you have it, and how unfair it is that some people have more than you. So for at least one day out of the entire year, I think it is possible to sit down with your friends and family and truly be thankful for the roof over your head, the food on your table, the freedom of the society we live in, and most importantly, the people around you. After realizing how easy it is to be thankful, hopefully more people will better understand the “giving” part of Thanksgiving too.

Jennifer Semesock
Features Editor