Giving Thanks for What You've Got

Generally, when there is something you lack, you become thankful for what you have. The metaphorical eyeglasses of want often help in seeing those things usually taken for granted. Yet in a land of plenty, when you are offered more, you have a tendency to realize just how much you have in a world you take for granted.

This Thanksgiving, I can't decide whether I am thankful for the school cafeteria that fills me unconditionally or not. Having unlimited coffee, ice cream, and deserts on a daily basis satiates the temporal hunger, yet it also makes a person think of coffee, ice cream, and daily deserts as mundane.

Today, as my Mom prepared a sumptuous Thanksgiving dinner, I felt guilty for declining her offer of coffee and pie. Truth be told, I just didn't feel like coffee, contrary to my custom of jumping at the offer on most other holidays and family gatherings. I guess I've had too much of it recently to value what my Mom takes pride in offering.

Is the Evelyn Young Dining Room a place of good food and contentment or is it a place of gluttony, and a perversion of the meaning of the "land of plenty?”