I fear there will be many explosive Thanksgiving dinners this year and not because you’re ingesting turkey, stuffing, gravy, sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce. Just make sure there’s a scented candle in the bathroom for that. I think that because we will be fresh off of this horrid election cycle and at Thanksgiving we know Trump will be POTUS for the next 4 years, conditions will be ripe for some nastiness during T-giving festivities.   Unless the family and friends you’ll be spending time with on November 24^th are lockstep on whom they voted for, and there’s probably a 50% chance of that, you might be 2 gin and tonics away from, at the very least, a major shout-fest or the other extreme of fisticuffs. Keep 9-1-1 on speed dial. What happened to this Norman Rockwell moment that used to be the perfect holiday? All you had to do was eat, maybe drink, converse and chill unless you cook and clean up, then the day is a mini-nightmare anyway, but maybe you’re better off in the kitchen if the arguing starts. It might be a good thing that some stores are now open on Thanksgiving. Instead of yelling at a Trump/Clinton fan after you chow down, just excuse yourself and head to the mall and get into a pushing match over a fifteen dollar toaster oven. Oh and one more thing, if you live in the Chicago area and are a Cubs or Sox fan and end up in mixed company this year, the potential for fireworks is very close to Defcon 1. A few years ago I spent Thanksgiving in Las Vegas, it was just my family and several hundred thousand of my Asian friends and it was great; it’s the way the Pilgrims envisioned it, turkey and craps, and no problem, I had a scented candle.

Peace,
Garry