COMMENTARY | One of the most heated topics that can be discussed with family during Thanksgiving is politics, which is often a great way to ruin a good time. As part of a highly politically charged family, there have been many instances where politics have ruined Thanksgiving, and here is just one of the worst memories I have.
I remember in 2001, my father, former stepmother and I decided to go over to my grandparents’ house for Thanksgiving. Although my grandmother and grandfather were from my maternal side, my father had a great relationship with them, especially since he had custody of me. At the time, I was about 14 years old, did not know a lot about politics, except do not discuss them around my father. My father and former stepmother are Republicans, and my grandparents were both hard Democrats since my grandfather was part of a union when he worked at Ford Motor Company. I remember that my father started off by talking about how it was not fair he was paying for other people, such as people on welfare and those that chose not to work. My grandfather was basically saying that as an American, it is a duty to help pay for those less fortunate. My father kept talking about how he should not have to pay because someone wanted to sit home all day and do nothing, and then he called out my grandmother.
My grandmother never worked a day in her life and had received checks because of my grandfather working at Ford. The checks were not too much – like $1,000 each month – but still my grandmother never did anything to work for that money. My grandmother then told him to shut up and she felt entitled to the money since she was married to a union worker. It just went all bad from there with name-calling and such, since they were always fast to blame George W. Bush for their problems. I finally was able to shake off the intense conversation about having to pay for those people choosing not to work but still get money from the government by asking my father about a car I had seen for sale down the road. He loves old classic cars, so it was easy for him to start talking about that instead. I acted interested in the motor, transmission, and all of these other facts about the classic car. When it comes down to it, though, everyone in my family knows it is not personal, but if personal attacks start flying, then everyone knows to shut up and move on, or they get called out on it.