ALPERN AT LARGE-One of the first lessons I learned in life is to say "thank you". Thanking those who helped you, who did or said something kind, or who just did a lot of work for a presentation or effort, is a very human thing that ranks up with apologizing, or saying "please". Thanksgiving is different, though...in its very origins we give thanks to a Higher Power.
There are many histories of the Thanksgiving holiday, such as that found on Wikipedia, but it does appear that it is a decidedly American holiday, with the first documented thanksgiving feasts being conducted by Spaniards in the 16th century.
And, of course, there's the famous Pilgrim/Indians story of 1621. But it was President Abraham Lincoln who, during the Civil War in 1863, proclaimed Thursday, November 26th to be:
"...a national day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens".
The tradition of football--another American iconic tradition--began in the decades after that (yes, as early as the late nineteenth century!). During the Great Depression, FDR worked with department stores to use the holiday as a way to springboard the American public into the Christmas shopping season...yet another American iconic tradition.
Yet Thanksgiving, which has so much of its roots in Judeo-Christian religious beliefs, shares in its origins the concept of the Sabbath, where we're SUPPOSED to rest, and SUPPOSED to relax.
Why? To appreciate the fact that we can, in fact, appreciate. Appreciate the ability to observe and comprehend life, our families, and the joy of existence. To quote Rene Descartes in his rightfully-famous philosophical proposition, "I think, therefore I am."
And if the origins of existence come from God (or however you wish to phrase or name this Higher Power), then we've got a lot to thank Him for.
The joy in which me and my wife share when we both laugh and smile at something our children said or did, the beauty in which a woman does something with such feminine grace, or the power in which a man does something with masculine certainty, and the loyalty and unconditional love a dog or cat gives their owners...I choose to believe this just didn't happen out of random luck or fate. It's easy to be thankful for all that.
And for those who choose to complicate Thanksgiving with Black Friday (especially those employers who have the stupidity, temerity, and/or desperation to start that on Thanksgiving evening), then I truly feel sorry for you...unless it's the joy of having fun shopping, which ranks up there for some as having fun watching football and chilling out.
Some of us like to read a book or watch a movie, while some of us like to go dirt-biking or running a marathon--if it's for joy, then we should give thanks. If it's done out of compulsion or obligation, then it's anything BUT being thankful for being alive.
Life is sweet, obligation not-so-sweet-but-quite-necessary to create purpose in our existence while allowing rest and relaxation to really mean something.
...Which, for those of you who know me, probably makes me appear to be a hypocrite, because I am always biting off more than I can chew--much out of a feeling of obligation, but much more out of a feeling of taking on a challenge for which I derive excitement and joy.
For example, the entire (and perhaps not yet completed) Casden Sepulveda ordeal was one I felt was imposed on me and all those who BOTH fought for or against the Expo Line, and it was the Expo Authority, LA City Council and Metro all at its worst--they did, do, and still will wage war on the citizenry in a cruel, hurtful way that deserves neither forgiveness nor understanding.
In contrast, the 12+ year fight that I and others have fought to connect LAX with Metro Rail, is one of both challenge and joy--just as the fight that Friends4Expo Transit volunteers did to create the Expo Line.
Ditto with the perils and victories that me and my lovely wife have encountered in purchasing and maintaining our house, followed by the raising of our delightful son and daughter. There have been a few unfair (very unfair!) barriers to their access to the right schools and right education, but at the close our children have thrived, risen to the occasion and provided us with a source of unlimited satisfaction and happiness.
On a similar note, I welcome and celebrate the trials and successes of my neighborhood council (the Mar Vista Community Council, to which I have been honored to play a past and ongoing role in its creation and expansion), my homeowners association (the Westside Village Homeowners Association), and the various transit/transportation groups to which I have belonged and/or still do belong.
For this I give thanks, and to all of you in the Westside, and in the transportation world, from Metro to the LADOT to the CD11 Transportation Advisory Committee and the Transit Coalition, you have my utmost gratitude. You teach me something new every time we meet, and for that I owe you my support in any way I can give it.
Ditto for the first-rate patients and doctors with whom I work on a daily basis--I respect and appreciate you all, and you've given me a reason to strive and fight for each and every one of you.
But now it's Thanksgiving, where I'll be able to slow down (something I admit to not doing very well). I will hang out with family, watch cartoons with the kids, maybe catch a few movies, and go travelling throughout Southern California just to have fun and relax with family.
These last few years have been very tough on our nation, our state, our neighborhoods and our families. I don't know where each of you readers stand financially and with respect to your families and your life-goals, but I do hope you have a chance to slow down (at least for a few days) and remember that we've got much to be grateful for.
Feel free to read the newspaper about the rest of the world, and I think you'll come to the same conclusion. There's an old saying that being born in the United States is like winning the lotto every day of your life, and it's pretty much true (imagine how horrible it must be for those born in North Korea, for example).
So let's hold off on the Good Fight for just a few moments and say thanks--and whether you do it by relaxing or shopping, try not to forget that now is the time to not only say thanks ... but to thank that Higher Power for giving you that amazingly human ability to say thanks.
(Ken Alpern is a Westside Village Zone Director and Boardmember of the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC), previously co-chaired its Planning and Outreach Committees, and currently is Co-Chair of its MVCC Transportation/Infrastructure Committee. He is co-chair of the CD11 Transportation Advisory Committee and chairs the nonprofit Transit Coalition, and can be reached at [email protected] This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ... He also co-chairs the grassroots Friends of the Green Line at www.fogl.us . The views expressed in this article are solely those of Mr. Alpern.) Graphic credit: Turkey Trot Los Angeles.
-cw
CityWatch
Vol 11 Issue 95
Pub: Nov 26, 2013