Assignment Fourteen – Jessica Ewing

My Thanksgiving is about as traditional as one can get. Family carts in from every corner of the country to cram themselves into a too-small house that smells of turkey and potatoes and green beans for nearly 12 hours while the women cook the food and the men watch TV.

And just like any traditional family holiday, my Thanksgivings are chock full of Republican vs. Democrat arguments and grand proclamations that Christianity is the greatest thing to ever happen to this world.

This year, however, I managed to escape the political debates and the religious nonsense and went early Black Friday shopping with my good ol' pal Katie Chen. My grandmother was not happy with me for "ditching" my family and gave me a good yelling-to when I got back, but being able to get out of that toxic environment for a while was refreshing, even if it instead going to a packed department store, hunting down the free perfumes and super cheap sweaters.