Happy Thanksgiving to you. Unless you're a turkey

I was having a conversation with one of my British colleagues about Thanksgiving. I told him that I was taking it off, because, hey, we won the war, so I'm celebrating all the American holidays, even if I'm in the Old Country.

He wasn't terribly familiar with Thanksgiving, and asked me to explain it. I gave him the 3rd grade version - the starving colonists were brought a bunch of food by some friendly, neighborhood indians, and they all sat around and stuffed themselves in a celebration of thankfulness. From this we derive our annual event of eating too much and passing out in front of college football on the TV.

Brit: And in return you gave the natives some beads, cholera, and smallpox?

Me: Yes. But we have a whole other holiday to celebrate that. Columbus Day.