Eating Thanksgiving dinner at dinnertime is ludicrous. Here's why | Dave Schilling

"Without question, my favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. I relish the opportunity to appreciate all the wonderful things about life. I also love that it is simultaneously a holiday all about complaints, criticism and arguments. Every holiday should contain such multitudes. I might be feeling grateful for my blessings while also wishing the gravy had more salt in it. There's something uniquely American about turning a holiday that's meant to be a joyous celebration of abundance into a chance to vehemently disagree about something trivial."

"What to eat and, even more crucially, when to eat. Every year, someone in your life a family member, friend, know-it-all writer will tell you they have settled the eternal debate about when to commence Thanksgiving dinner. Some (wrong) people think the word dinner should be taken literally, in the American sense. These strict constitutionalists can see no nuance in the holiday traditions and believe (falsely) that the meal should begin between 5pm and 7pm, when it's properly dark outside."

"My mother would start cooking the meal the day before, then get up early to keep cooking the day of. As food would be finished, we'd be able to eat it as we pleased. All the while, the TV would be tuned to either a James Bond marathon or a football game. My brother and I could leave and go to the movies and come back whenever we wanted. Perhaps what my mom was most grateful for was her freedom from us."

Thanksgiving evokes gratitude alongside complaints and arguments. The narrator enjoys trivial disputes about traditions, especially the timing of the meal. Some people insist that dinner must occur in the evening, between 5pm and 7pm, while others favor a more relaxed approach. The narrator's family embraced a loose schedule: cooking began the day before, food was eaten as ready, and people could come and go. Televised James Bond marathons or football games provided background. The relaxed structure created memories more of moments and freedom than of a single formal dinner.

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