The True Meaning of Thanksgiving 2011

Overbooking

It’s Thanksgiving again, and that means it’s time for another year’s installment of the True Meaning of Thanksgiving. Enjoy reading this in your turkey-induced comas. Hooray!

Dear traveler,

A special time of year is upon us, and so it is time to reflect upon the True Meaning of Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is not a time to give thanks.

Thanksgiving is a time to get bumped.

It’s high time for the stuffing of the birds! But if one is thinking turkey, then it’s time to tune in to a higher plane where stuffing is a verb, not a noun. It’s high time for stuffing of the Boeings! (And the Airbii, and the Embraers, and so on.) The airlines overbook their birds, and an overstuffed Thanksgiving airplane will vent out big vouchers for eagerly awaiting volunteers. Just resolve that all the fine family, friends, and food awaiting can be started a little late and a little leftover, and the True Meaning of Thanksgiving can be yours.

I will joyfully return to the skies this Thanksgiving, for a long planned voyage to the northlands where family awaits. But it won’t be easy. I no longer reside near Phoenix Sky Harbor, the Hub of Riches, where the holiday dollars pour down like the never ending sunshine. More than that, the external pressure to resist the rewards this year is awesome. Far away family members I’ll miss completely if I arrive even a few hours late. Multiple nieces impatiently awaiting the arrival of an uncle.

But the path to the True Meaning of Thanksgiving was never meant to be easy. For if it did not involve challenging choices, then everyone would become easily enlightened, and the rush to snare the rewards would be crushing. So the equillibrium of moving masses, stuffed birds, and flowing freebies is maintained. May all of your hard won Thanksgiving choices result in profitable travel joy during this fine season.

With a high five (or, really, with a high five hundred dollar voucher),

..robert

The True Meaning of Thanksgiving, years past:
http://www.rstack.com/thanksgiving/thanksgiving.html

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3 comments on “The True Meaning of Thanksgiving 2011

  1. I tried my best but couldn’t snag a bump on November 23 (LAX-DEN-CMH) or November 28 (CMH-DEN-LAX).

    But this trip was purchased thanks to a successful bump last year!

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