Thanks givin

by Jyll

Well, since Liz started us on the holiday spirit, let's just jump right in! It's my favorite time of the year. Thanksgiving is a few days away, the massive Christmas sales are about to begin, and I'm not even very fat this year so I can buy clothes only one size too small instead of several. For me, this time of year is all pretty lights and Christmas carols and cute peacoats and Christmas trees and turkeys and sparkles and alcohol. It's the best part of being in the city. The majority of my newfound east village hipster friends bemoan the presence of the lights and the wreathes and the giant cornucopie ("It's not even Veteran's Day yet, waaa!") and say silly things about hating our capitalist society and Americans are so commercial and this country is too materialistic and in Europe they don't do this (they totally do) and blablabla I hate my parents. None of that for me.

I'm from Bishop, California, a small town in the Eastern Sierra. It's Wild Wild West where I'm from, think cowboys on every corner, saloons instead of bars, an actual hitching post (that gets occasional use) at the high school. Being in the big city with the lights and the trees and the people rushing around makes me feel like I'm in the movies. It's validating, in a way, to be like, okay, I'm broke, total career rut, I have no boyfriend, I only date losers, and I'm a little bit fat...but at least I'm done with college, I'm hella pretty, and I live near a park with a big giant Christmas tree with sparkly lights all over it. Life's okay.

I'm grateful to capitalism for many things, and these things include the window dressings and the glitz and holiday bustle. It is manufactured, to some extent, but most good things (food, medicine, sequins) are manufactured. The happy feelings most of us get when we see all the decorations? Straight from da heart. Thank you capitalism, for dressing everything up and making the world sparkle. I will totally max out my credit cards in thanks.

:)