My Thanksgiving Dinner

What did I have for Thanksgiving dinner?  I had sushi.  And it was good, and I ate it by myself in a hallway in the theatre. 

I don’t care if everyone else in the world was spending time with their families and friends because I don’t really want to share a big turkey with family or friends.  I don’t even like turkey!  I’m pescitarian! I don’t like mashed potatoes either.  They just make you fat!  So there!  Yeah, you read this right,…I don’t really care if everyone else in the world was getting big and fat eating mashed potatoes and turkey with their family and watching cable all day.  I may have spent the whole day alone, but I had work to do!  I have a Broadway show to do!! Thanksgiving was just another day for me! (sniffle, sniffle)

Okay…so maybe I was a little, teensy bit missing my family on Thanksgiving.  I did call my mom and my sister and talked to them for about two hours.  And maybe I did hope a teensy tinesy bit that I would be able to find someone free in the city to eat a Thanksgiving dinner with before heading off into Midtown for the show.  However, my roommate was out of town, and there were, like, two people in my little coffee shop when I grabbed a cup early in the day. 

I called my best friend Shawn, and he was making stuffing for his family who was in town.  He went on to tell me how good this stuffing is because he puts cranberries or something in it….blah, blah, blah…I stopped listening to Shawn’s stuffing recipe.  It’s not like I was going to get to eat any of it anyways.  Finally I interrupted Shawn, “Fine! Spend time with your family! I don’t really care!!  And I hate stuffing by the way!! Stuffing with cranberries sounds disgusting!  I hope you get fat!” 

I am not thankful for Shawn. 

Next, I called Super Swing Morgan.  Maybe he would want to meet up and grab some dinner before the show.  He texted me back, “Sorry Emily!! I’m at my uncle’s house…I’ll just make it back in time for the show.  Happy Gobble Gobble day!!” 

That’s stupid.  Who says ‘Gobble Gobble day?’  Is that because people are just gobbleing up food all day…or is that supposed to be for the sound a turkey makes before you kill it and eat it?!?  I didn’t really care if Morgan wanted to get dinner with me…I don’t really want to spend time with someone who says 'Gobble gobble day.'  That’s stupid. 

I’m not thankful for Morgan, either.

I decided to spend the rest of the day ignoring Thanksgiving and especially Thanksgiving dinner!  I made to do lists and memorized lines for the screen test I have next week.  I cleaned my room and did the dishes, but after a lot of pacing and lists, my stomach started to grumble a little.  I guess I was getting a little bit hungry. 

I decided on my way to the show that I would get some sushi.  Sushi is my favorite pre-show meal.  When I stopped in at Kodama, it was pretty empty and the waiters looked surprised to see me. I guess most people don’t eat sushi on Thanksgiving, but since I wasn't celebrating Thanksgiving, sushi was perfect for me.  “One?” asked the waiter.  “No….to go.”  There was no way I was sitting in that restaurant alone.  I paid for my sushi and headed for the theatre.

I was surprised at how empty the theatre still was.  I guess everyone was waiting untill the last minute to come back from their Thanksgiving dinner with their families.  “Well, they are all Lazy and FAT!!," I thought to myself, “Good thing I don’t care about Thanksgiving, Someone’s got to hold this show together!!”  I went to my dressing room but one of the girls was resting from her big turkey dinner with her family, so I took my sushi to the hall and sat there and ate all by myself. It was pretty good sushi. 

Call me crazy, but something about eating that sushi really lifted my mood.  Afterall, i hadn't eaten all day and was pretty hungry and cranky until I had that sushi.  Also, I have to admit I was was happy when everyone started arriving at the theatre.  As more and more arrived, my anti-Thanksgiving cloud lifted. Everyone seemed in such a good mood and I guess their high spirits started to rub off on me.  Then, the show that night was pretty amazing. We had a nice big crowd, and when the show is all sparkly and energetic, it can definitely have the power to change my attitude.  Maybe I was wrong in deciding to ignore Thanksgiving.  Even though I didn’t have a big turkey with my family, I did have a lot to be thankful for.  I have it pretty good right now and there were still plenty of hours in the evening to celebrate and give thanks. 

I didn’t really get in on Thanksgiving dinner, but I did get in on some Thanksgiving dessert.  A friend from college surprised me by being at the show, so we went and got a glass of wine.  Then Shawn called to say he still had some dessert left from the dinner he had made for his family, and people were still drinking and eating if I wanted to join, so I got in a cab and spent the rest of Thanksgiving drinking wine and eating apple crisp.  Okay, so maybe I'm a little bit thankful for my friend Shawn or at least for the apple crisp his mom made.  I’ve always like dessert better than dinner anyways.   

--  Emily Kinney

 

Comments

[Justine]

Awww. It's hard being far from family, isn't it? That happened to me a couple times when I used to live across the country. Some Thanksgivings I was able to fly back and join my family, but other years it wasn't possible.

One year I went with a friend to a comedy club that was sponsoring a free Thanksgiving dinner. There were a lot of homeless people there for sure, but also a lot of single actor-types who lived far from family. We had a nice time. Oh, and the friend I was with earlier in the day served Thanksgiving dinner to hungry homeless people. There are a lot of restaurants and soup kitchens that do this -- they need volunteers to make & serve food. I've never done it on Thanksgiving (I've done it at soup kitchens in NYC on non-holiday occasions), but it's a nice thing to do & kinda takes you outside of yourself when you see the less fortunate.

Another year, my neighbors and I got together at someone's apartment and had a Thanksgiving together. We all brought a dish that we had cooked or bought. That was fun, too!

As time goes on, you'll find more people to spend Thanksgiving with, if it's a year you can't get home. Sometimes it takes time. :)

[Jon Fox]

aw, i loved this entry.

emily, i would've gotten a thanksgiving dinner with you!! even though I had one in the afternoon with my family...I seriously am the biggest lover of food and eat more than anyone I know (i'm lucky to have a super fast metabolism!)

next time you're digging a meal, I'M YOUR MAN!

[Lauren]

Aww! While you were eating sushi for Thanksgiving, I was in a BBQ resturant somewhere in Times Square eating dinner. I was up there to be in the Macy's Parade, so we were running around Broadway at like 3 am, we ate breakfast in an Applebees (who knew they served breakfast?), did the parade, ate at the BBQ place, and then had to go home. So I feel your pain about not being with your family on Thanksgiving. But I did see the show that...Monday? Yeah, Monday. You guys were great!