Aftermath

The good news around here is that we could all be happy for the relative health of the individuals who showed up for Thanksgiving dinner. One of our guests had a brief encounter with one of our neighbor's bumpers while he was parking his car, but the damage was mostly to his ego. After travelling over the river and through the woods, to have a minor fender bender fifty feet from your destination has to be a little demoralizing. A few cups of coffee and a lot of commiseration later, he was fine.
The same could be said of one of the grownups who got themselves involved in the touch football game on the street in front of our house. It was just a quick slip and fall, but when you get a little north of forty, you don't bounce back quite as abruptly as the eleven and twelve-year-olds. Our team won, so it was a little easier to bear, until he raised his hands over his head.
Happily there were no food or eating related mishaps, and the rest of the day passed without additional trauma. Which is why I was just the tiniest bit nervous when my wife popped out of bed just before eight in the morning to go and brave the Black Friday throngs. Safe and warm under the covers, still digesting yesterday's feast, I bade her farewell and tried to imagine a world that would include me in those crowds. A thirty-four year-old Wal-Mart employee was killed in a stampede of shoppers this morning at their store in Valley Stream, Long Island. Police said in addition a twenty-eight-year-old pregnant woman was taken to a hospital for observation and three other shoppers suffered minor injuries and were also taken to hospitals.
I just got a call from my wife. She's on her way home. If she can avoid the minor perils of our neighborhood, she should be fine. I'm going to stay home, eat leftovers, and watch football on TV. Like Steely Dan says, "When Black Friday comes I'm gonna dig myself a hole, Gonna lay down in it 'til I satisfy my soul."