Thanksgiving Football

Walked through the break area this morning, and lost 2 IQ points by glancing up at FOX on the TV.   
I wasn't using those two, anyhow. Hard hitting news this morning?  All the viewers sending in messages about how they're going to ban the thanksgiving football game in their house tomorrow. 
I call bullsh*t. And not just because I LOVE that word. Which i do. A lot. I'm refraining from typing it over and over right now. 

I'm not saying a few won't actually follow through, but overall - b*llshit. 

Firstly, because.... we say shit.   All the time. We talk a good outrage, a good new life plan a good... whatever.   But the reality is, it's generally just that.   Talk.
And nothing more.
But specific to this topic - You either don't watch it to begin with, or you'll watch it. Because that's what people do, every year, automatically, on Thanksgiving;  It's a tradition, on a day built and maintained on tradition. 
If you aren't staring glassy-eyed at the TV, running in and out of the living room for scores, or simply saying "Oh, I'll eat in the living room because of space", what will you do instead? 
You're already crabby because you smashed your Keurig in solidarity with Hannity, so you had to run out and buy an actual coffee maker at the last minute because your guests are going to want coffee. You've forced yourself to be civil and grunt at one another for a couple of hours already.   
Or you'll intend not to watch, but SOMEONE(s) at your gathering will get upset because they can't watch TV, and... a TV will go on. Does it still count if it's the TV on top of the beer refrigerator in the garage? 
Yes.   

But most of you  -  NEED that football game. 
You'll watch from the very beginning, so that you can point at those opting to take a respectful knee, and make loud, probably-on-some-level-racist comments about them, and feel more patriotic the process.  Nobody fought and died for your freedom to take a knee! they did it for the flag!!!!  'Murica! You'll be doing this, by the way, from the comfort of your lazy-boy.   You won't be standing, MAGA hat removed, hand over heart, in your living room.   You will not get see the irony. 
The irony and hypocrisy WILL escape you, because your very outrage is based on your inability to understand nuance and concepts that do not fit into your narrow, privileged world view. 
And the math of the after-math will escape you as well.    If ratings drop at all from previous years, victory will be claimed, even though the # of fewer viewers will be but a very small percent of the # of folks voicing outrage.     Victory will be claimed, via tweet. 

Of COURSE all of the above is based AN OVERSIMPLIFIED VIEW OF HOW THOSE WHO HAVE A DIFFERENT WORLDVIEW THAN MINE, live their lives. 
That's kind of the point.   A harsh illustration of the fundamental wrongness of living ones' life in this manner. 
So... how about we all try to do better? 

Whatever you do, whatever traditions you hold dear or choose to discard... may your thanksgiving be a time of positive reflection and fellowship.