The Daily Egyptian is published by the students of SIU at Carbondale. Except during vacations and exam weeks, The Daily Egyptian is published Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and TWThF during the summer semester."

Have a thankful Thanksgiving

Don't let the short-sleeve weather fool you. Christmas time is almost here. Soon the jingling of sleigh bells and the majesty of the first snow will entrance Americans and excite youngsters. But wait. What happened to Thanksgiving?

Nobody cares about Thanksgiving. We only use this holiday as a springboard for the real holiday season, or a nice marker of some department store's 30-percent-off sale.

Thanksgiving nowadays is just a break from school or a day off from work or those home cooked biscuits grandma always makes.

Does anyone out there still pause to remember what they're thankful for unless their parents make them at the dinner table? For one day of the year does anyone think about what they do have instead of worrying about what they don't have? I know that even the sweet smell of candied yams wafting out of the kitchen even starts to break my concentration.

It's so easy in getting wrapped up comparing ourselves to other people. It is easy to look over to the car next to you at a red light and say, "Wow I wish I had a Lexus too."

I'm not pointing the finger, because I'm guilty of this also. In fact, I may have the rough draft of my Christmas list already completed.

I think everyone should be able to find at least one thing to be thankful for. It's all a matter of perspective. Even if your dream house gets burned down and you lose possessions that you've had since second grade you should be able to find some silver lining, even if it's a small one. Maybe you could be thankful that all of your family members escaped the inferno alive or perhaps you can appreciate that you were wearing your favorite dress socks and they didn't get taken in the blaze. Whatever the case might be, be thankful for something.

I'm not the most optimistic person, but I still realize I have a lot to be thankful for. I'm in debt right now because college is expensive. But I'm still thankful that I got the opportunity to attend SIUC. I am thankful that I got to travel to a city I've never been to before in October. And although the van trip was 13 hours both ways I'm still glad that I can say I've visited our nation's capital. I can find a silver lining in practically anything. For example, yesterday I had to print 360 pages out on my personal computer which took about two hours, but because of it I have more faith in the performance of my printer and now know that those little diagrams telling you how much ink you have left can't be trusted. Even if it says you have half a cartridge left, my advice to you is to buy another one just in case. My cellular phone fell off of a balcony onto the hard pavement of a parking lot and didn't break. Thank you Sprint. Thank you Ray the maintenance guy in our building whom I can talk to early in the morning when I'm still in my pajamas. He tells me I'd better wear a coat because it's cold out or tells me I'd better grab my umbrella.

If you can't find at least one thing to be thankful for, what does that say about you? It might mean that you can't find joy in the simple things of life? Be thankful of the crooked toothed smile of a small child or the good health of family members. And if nothing else be thankful that I've neared the word limit the DAILY EGYPTIAN gives me every Friday and must now end my column. Please be thankful.

Shanita is a junior in journalism. If I May appears every Friday. These views do not necessarily reflect those of the DAILY EGYPTIAN.

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