Today is National Overeating Day in the (Former) United States of America, the one day of the year when you can gather your whole family around and have a pitched battle – not over politics, religion, or vaccine status, but over who gets the turkey drumstick.

It was always my favourite American holiday, back when I lived in the FUSA. I have not properly celebrated Thanksgiving in over 5 years, but I have always liked the idea, and I have always enjoyed the fact that Americans take it as an opportunity to spend time with their loved ones in an atmosphere of shared joy.

These days, it is often difficult to be thankful for much of anything. That is not surprising, given how absolutely batshit crazy the world has become – and that reflects in the much higher prices of, well, everything. We now live in an era of economic insecurity and hardship, political insanity, and religious persecution at the hands of the authorities.

In other words… not really all that different a world from the one the American pilgrims fled when they went to America.

The major difference – one hopes – is that today’s Americans are not a bunch of religious Communists – no, seriously, that is what the settlers of Jamestown actually were. Like all Commies, they did not end up doing very well. Here is a simple explanation of the whole thing (Neopalestinian warning, of course):

The key thing to remember here is:

No matter how bad things are, you can ALWAYS be thankful for something.

The unhappiest people in the world are the ungrateful ones, who always think the problems in their lives are due to everyone else, but never themselves. The happiest ones, by contrast, are the ones who are most grateful for the small things.

It is not difficult to figure out which one you should be.

So, no matter where you are when you read this, whether in America or not – take a moment to sit at table tonight, with your family and friends, and say out loud why you are grateful.

You will be the better for it.

Happy Thanksgiving, all – enjoy the day, and the inevitable food-coma that results.