READER MAIL
Dear TR,
What does an unethical vegan such as yourself do on Thanksgiving?
Just wondering,
Maybe Eating A Turkey
U.S.A.
Dear MEAT,
Great question! Bear with me a moment while I tell a little story. My friend Gungaboy will be joining us this Thanksgiving, along with his grandmother. Grandma had Thanksgiving dinner with us last year, too, but she doesn’t remember. And last summer, just a few months ago, we visited with her at a beach house on a nearby island. She doesn’t remember that either. When you talk to Grandma, she seems perfectly fine. She’s a hoot, in fact, and plays cards like a Vegas shark. But once she leaves our house, we will leave her mind.
We’ll be hosting a couple of other folks, as well. My friend Cindy brings a sweet potato pie each year that is To Die For. My husband’s boyhood pal Jim freezes the blackberries from his yard in the summer, and bakes them into a pie for Thanksgiving.
What I’ll be doing on Thursday is this: feeling
exceedingly grateful that I live in a nation and a household so
privileged that I can lay platter after platter of food on the table,
including meat, vegetables, pies, and a large assortment of starchy
side dishes. And I can choose, on that day or any other, what kind of food I will or will not eat. In many parts of the world today, and even for some people in our own country, that is an unimaginable luxury.
And
I am delighted to offer the admittedly cramped hospitality of my small
home to Gungaboy’s grandmother, so that she can enjoy the good company,
eat too much food, and play cards with my children, even if she won’t
remember a thing about it the next morning.
Will I eat the turkey? Very likely I will. My diet, my choice. Cooking it is Technogeek’s job, though. Raw dead birds are gross.
Other questions for TR may be left in comment or message form. I make no promises whatsoever about answering them.
Transvestite Rabbit 
Just got caught up on the last few posts. Love that rabbit? Does s/he live inside? We have two outdoor rabbits. The dog is happy when they’re in their pens but I fear would eat them were they outside a cage. They do rub noses through the cage however. Enjoy your Thanksgiving. Your thankful list is one we can all be proud of.
Thank heavens for unethical vegans.
RYC: True that. But that’s your values talking.
I would have ended with the dead birds statement.(Dark meat rocks!)
I think it’s cheating to be giving thanks like that before the holiday is even here.
Thank goodness! I was afraid you’d be eating some soy concoction shaped like a turkey!
yay for the choice!
I don’t eat meat. But I’ll tell ya what-I’ve never ever ended up hungry on Thanksgiving. It drives me nuts when people ask me “What do you eat?” My response is usually “everything else.”
Not a vegan or anything, but I won’t be having any turkey. Just because I don’t like turkey. How un-American of me.
Those are all great points. How lucky we are to live in affluence to make said choices.
Well said on all points!
And I’ve known a few dead raw birds in my time. The trick is to get them dressed for dinner!
well at least you are not falling into a tofu turkey coma…
Of course I will BEAR with you. I remember when you gave me heck for eating a big juicy steak…..how times have changed. Enjoy…whatever you do…wish we could join you.
YOur holiday, your house, your bird, your diet. At least you are eating as ethically as you can most of the time regardless of whether you eat a lbs or bird this year or not! RYC: He is a bit defective, as are all cats. He’s distant (we have to find him and drag him out of his hide-y hole), and emotionally needy all at the same time. And he WHINES! Oh GOD that cat whines. Also, he defected from BIL’s house in the city, to our farm house here in rural Iowa. Once he stops hiding in the house and comes out without being dragged we’ll let him explore our great out of doors. (Which is what he did at BIL’s house.) Indoor/outdoor cat, sort of like the carpeting.Either way, he’ll always be DEFECTO!!! The wondercat. And I have to tell you, there’s nothing cuter than hearing my 3 yr old say his name. It’s as if he’s a quasi-superhero’s pet. Like The Flea, or Batmanuel!
Dear TR:
How do you always manage to answer such rude, tasteless questions with an answer that is both graceful and classy? Probably because you are a graceful, classy person! Well spoken!
Have a great holiday.
Sincerely, RedHairedCelt
Your comments remind me of my adopted nephew…He lived the first five years of his life in very crappy parental and very crappy foster care in Manhatten (NYC). He ate canned soup EVERY DAY, for EVERY MEAL (seriously). Upon seeing the Thanksgiving feast, that we take for granted, for the first time, he exclaimed, “is that ALL for us?!” I too am thankful that I have a bounty on my table this year, and because of Joey’s wide-eyed innocence, every year. Have a very happy Thanksgiving celebration! (o:
TURKEY TURKEY TURKEY!!! WE demand dead bird! Heated just so, cooked to perfection! GIVE US DEAD BIRD!
I have no questions or comments, but an answer for you, the one who seeks answers. ZEBRA_SLUT is still around. I have too much clutter in my mind to have only one xanga site, so there is the old reliable Z_S site, and this new one SIAGT. I also had one called Sleeping_By_The_Side_Of_The_Road, which was going to consist of pictures of road killed animals. The title is from the observation that the ‘clipped’ ones, that is, the ones not splattered like a cherry pie all over the road, (sorry for that mental image, don’t serve cherry pie this Thanksgiving) look as if they are merely sleeping by the side of the road. But I shut that one down, and am questioning whether it is in very good taste to post such images online.