Thankful

So this is the season where people who are ungrateful all year long decide to write down/think about what they're thankful for. I, however, am not feeling thankful this year. The thing is, I should be. There are lots of things I have to be thankful for, including the fact that my boy's family, much like my own, does not make you go around the table, putting you on the spot to say stupid heartwarming things about which you're thankful.

This week, even though I only have to make it through two work days, I am having a really rough time. Things are not going how I pictured it (and for those of you who know me well, know I don't like it when things aren't how I picture it).

Last night though, we were watching an episode of The Waltons and there was a scene that clearly didn't go how the director had pictured it. I am happy they left it as is though, cause I couldn't stop laughing last night and even though I am angry and bitter about some things today, I remembered this scene long enough to laugh once more today.

In the episode titled: The Outage The family is having dinner together and discussing racism and freedom and people's rights. They've just finished telling a story about Lena Horne who was entertaining troops at Fort Reilly, Kansas during World War II, when she saw German POWs seated in the front row and African American soldiers forced to sit behind them. They said she walked to the end of the row of POWs turned her back on them and sang to the black soldiers.

There's a pause after this dramatic story and then the kid playing John Curtis (who must be about two) pats his "grandfather" on the shoulder and pipes up"I got new pants." John (his grandfather) says "I see that. Who got you those, your mommy?" John Curtis replies "No, from Pat" (there's no pat on the show). John says "From Pat? Where does she live? On the next farm?" To which, a rather confused John Curtis says "Yeah." and John finishes with "Okay, Good." It was impressive. As one person said: "Ralph Waite was smart enough to cover it up since John Curtis was so excited that he got a new pants. The producer thought it was cute and they decided to leave it alone. Pat Norris was the costume designer for the Waltons"

I think it loses something in the translation here, but I couldn't stop laughing. It also helps that this total non-sequitur regarding pants reminds me of my favorite ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIq58H6CYQU "I invented pants."

So maybe I'm thankful that some people are so proud of the fact that we all put our pants on one leg at a time, whether we invented them or we got them from Pat. . .

UPDATE: I thought I had posted this ad before, and it turns out I did, here. Also, in the process of searching for where I posted it, I came across a New York Time's article I posted about Christmas sweaters. I know it's still a little early for some people to think about Christmas, but it's worth looking at if you're not intentionally avoiding Christmas.