by Sierra Petro, Ryan Datino, Marcos Torres Lechuga and Adonia Hosier
Thanksgiving is a time of bonding. It is a time to reflect back on the good and bad times we have shared with loved ones. It is a festive season for indulging in our favorite home- cooked meals. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade is playing on your living room television. You wake up to the sound of commotion in the kitchen as the final touches are made to the long-awaited meal. Then, family arrives and all hell breaks loose.
We scoured the Purchase campus for your favorite hellish Thanksgiving memories. Some are funny, others are offensive, and others are painful.
“One year, my uncle John brought something with peanuts that I was allergic to, so my grandmother kicked him in the shin,” said junior media, society and the arts major Emma Steen. “We kinda sat there in silence for the next hour. She was like 'No fuck you' and she kicked him!” Steen and her family sat awkwardly trying to figure out what just happened.
“And then we just all watched ‘Jesus Christ Superstar,’” she said.
“My friends did Friendsgiving last year, it was awesome.” said Dan Costello, a senior political science major. “We just got together and made a bunch of food that no one had any idea how to cook, so it was a mess. But it was a fun memory, meaningful, and the chicken was good.”
“When I was little, we went to San Francisco to visit my Aunt,” said Ashley Berry, a sophomore anthropology student. “We got them one of those fancy honey baked hams for the occasion. We get to the house and put the ham on the counter top.” Being from Albuquerque, New Mexico, Berry and her father wanted to see some Californian sights, so they left her Aunt’s house and went to check out some tourist hot spots.
A little while into their excursion, a thought crossed their minds. “We remembered that my Aunt’s dog is notorious for stealing food from the table,” says Berry. “When we came back, we opened the door to find a lab laying by our feet with its stomach literally twice its normal size. Pretty much the whole ham was eaten… so no ham for that Thanksgiving.”
Some of the stories took place beyond the dinner table.
“My father would get these music gigs at art events on Thanksgiving, where he would play the piano, and we would all come along with him. My cousins and I would just walk around and explore the places,” said Ben Segal, a junior screenwriting major. While exploring, Segal and his cousins would walk around with a camera making videos. “One thanksgiving, while I was holding the camera I bumped into this sculpture and broke it. The art piece was worth $100, my cousins and I were freaked out! We didn’t know what to do. Luckily our whole family was there to save the day. My dad ended up paying for the sculpture, and we got off the hook."
All in all, Thanksgiving is a holiday of many emotions here at Purchase. It is clear that there is no such thing as a perfect Thanksgiving. However, where is the fun in a flawless night? The best memories stem from a night of imperfections. So have an imperfect Thanksgiving, Purchites.