Reasons to Be Thankful

How Do I Thank Thee? Let Me Count the Ways

When it comes to Thanksgiving 2006, to paraphrase the immortal
Chick Hearn — the turkey’s in the refrigerator,
the door is closed, the light are out, the gravy is cooling, the
pie’s getting hard, and the cranberry sauce is jigglin’. For those poor deprived souls out there
who didn’t grow up falling asleep in the car to the sound of
Chick’s voice on the radio, that basically means it’s over. For
most of us Isla Vistans, that means it’s time to start fretting
about finals, worrying about winter break, and generally stressing about
stuff again.

Before the bemoaning begins, I propose a moment of reflection. I
know I’m not the only one whose mother made everyone go around the
table at Thanksgiving and say what they were thankful for — and I
know I’m not the only one who rolled my eyes at the exercise.
But, as last week’s column showed, my
mom is not always entirely wrong or entirely crazy. And, in this
case, she might have just been right. Just don’t tell her I said
that. But seriously, at this point in time — with one of the year’s
most stressful seasons around the corner and a quarter of the
school year almost past — perhaps it is a good idea to take a
moment and be thankful.

So, you may ask, what am I grateful for this year? Well, of
course, there’s the stock greeting-card stuff: I’m thankful for my
parents, my brothers, my family, my friends, my job, etc. But let’s
face it, that stuff is boring. True, but boring. So, in
the interests of keeping this column interesting, let’s go a little
deeper than that. It’s my third year at UCSB, my second-to-last
year of pre-graduation freedom and my 20th year on Earth — so
again, what am I thankful for? Well, now that I think about it, it
turns out I’m thankful for quite a bit. So, loyal readers, here it
is: my laundry list of things I’m thankful for. And, in
the interest of satisfying my interest, I encourage all of you to
put that cute little comments section at the bottom of my column to
use and let me know what you’re thankful for as well. After all, it
can’t hurt to take a second and say thanks — even when there’s no
turkey involved.