Just recently, a large majority of the Spartan community celebrated Thanksgiving during the week-long break. During a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, turkey acts as the central dish along with other foods such as mashed potatoes and pie. However, as someone who never ate turkey during this custom until recently, I was curious as to whether or not other students had prepared a turkey for their Thanksgiving dinner.
When I asked Leo Gabara, a senior in the class of 2025, about whether or not turkey was served for his Thanksgiving meal, he confirmed, “Yes, we prepared a turkey. That’s what makes up a traditional Thanksgiving meal after all.”
However, the preparation of turkey was not apparent within every person’s Thanksgiving. When I interviewed Kartik Menke, another Spartan senior, he replied, “No, I did not have a turkey. I had all of the other typical Thanksgiving food, though.”
I found it interesting that it is actually quite common for people to celebrate Thanksgiving without the turkey. Even when I looked into an American poll held by YouGov that consisted of randomly sampled participants, I found that around 33% of Americans do not have turkey at all. Funnily enough, out of the American participants who did eat turkey, around 35% of them disliked turkey. Personally, I can agree with this since turkey is pretty mediocre in comparison to other meats.
In the end, Thanksgiving is a festivity that provides individuals with the opportunity to spend a wonderful time with their families. With or without turkey, I can agree with firsthand experience that any delectable meal can reinforce the holiday spirit that we all know and love.
