Black Friday, Cyber Monday and beyond

ANALYSIS/OPINION:

Sometimes, when you least expect it, the turn of certain encounters leads to a crash — not a car wreck, mind you, just a sequence of events that lead to what many of us to call a coincidence.

“This is the day that the Lord has made.” “God and the ancestors are still delivering blessings.”

Those are two sayings of my mom’s since, well, forever. I thought of repeating those lines to a cashier at a mega fast-food joint on Thanksgiving Eve.

I had said “Happy Thanksgiving” to the cashier after she placed my order and handed over my change and receipt. She replied, “I hate Thanksgiving.”

And as if an angel had perched on her shoulder to whisper in her ear, she then said, “But I’ll be praying.”

“Me too,” I said. “Thanks.”

Thanks is something none of us says often enough these days.

I have no idea why the woman hates Thanksgiving. The word hate rolls off so many tongues so easily until, for some, Thanksgiving has come to be a day of dread.

With scant provisions, some people can’t even afford a turkey, let alone a bountiful spread.

Can’t afford to go to Grandma’s house because you can’t afford to burn gasoline or blow your transit pass. You’ve got to work Black Friday and Cyber Monday, harrumph.

Thanksgiving Day reminds you that a loved one or close friend had died.

College loans.

Social media is your BFF and hate rules.

You don’t like your relatives so you pay homage to “Friendsgiving.”

Understood. Life hands you lemons, so you hate lemonade.

Thing is, be grateful.

Give thanks for the lemons.

For being alive.

For having family, even if the family is atypical, rendering nothing similar to the Beaver’s Cleavers or Rudy Huxtable’s “Cosby.”

For having a job.

For knowing people of faith who aid those in need — the genesis, by and by, of the Salvation Army’s red kettles and faithful bell ringers, and the blessings from Catholic Charities.

For having a connection to the internet, yet knowing you don’t have to engage the haters, idiots and/or spiteful ninnies on social media.

For having the option to pretty much give thanks as you please — especially to yourself.

You can face a mirror, smile, take a bow and simply say, “Thanks.” You can visit the graveyard of loved one to say, “Thanks,” or you can attend religious services to testify as part of a united front.

When it comes to giving, showing or saying thanks, different strokes for different folks.

That’s why when the cashier said, “But I’ll be praying,” a smile coursed my face, and my “thanks” was for the message and the messenger.

Thanksgiving Day itself is over, while thanks-giving can be acknowledged each and every day, though.

As my mom has long said, “This is the day that the Lord has made,” and “God and the ancestors are still delivering blessings.”

⦁ Deborah Simmons can be contacted at dsimmons@washingtontimes.com.