Thanksgiving began early this year. I found myself in a mall on Monday night, dining at a chain restaurant, and I experienced my first instance of wall-to-wall nonstop Christmas music, 2008-style. This is the part of Thanksgiving I like least: the “Thanksgiving as spring roll to the General Gau’s chicken that is Christmas” part.

The part of Thanksgiving I like best is the part I’ve been experiencing for the last couple days: the food, the family, the food, and, well, the thankfulness. This year, I’m thankful for a lot: for my wife, for my family, for my friends, for all the blessings of the past year, and for the improved play of the Patriot offense these last few weeks. I’m also thankful that our big plans for a romantic Thailand vacation in December fell through. I’m not sure if you’ve been paying attention to what’s been going on across the Pacific, but the last I heard, anti-government forces had taken over Bangkok’s airports and were demanding the resignation of the Prime Minister and the dissolution of the Parliament.  C and I were quite bummed when we decided to shelve plans for a Thailand honeymoon, but now we are thanking our lucky stars.  Can you imagine how much we’d be freaking out right now if we’d dropped $3000 on airplane tickets?  We were one server error and a good night’s sleep away from doing so.  Whew!

This is a tough Thanksgiving for many: in India, Thailand, Zimbabwe, all over.  It’s gonna be a tough Thanksgiving for retailers in the U.S. as well, if my uncrowded trip today to suburban shoppingland is any indication.  I’m thankful that my troubles pale in comparison to those of others.  And I wish the world a happier Thanksgiving in 2009.