What I'm Thankful For--Including Stupid People

I decided to post this on Thanksgiving instead of Wednesday night. I hope you don't mind.

I'm thankful for family, a bed to lay my head on, a coat to keep warm on cold days, and a roof to keep me dry on rainy/snowy nights.

I'm grateful for beautiful music, for lyrics that move me, for songs that keep me sane, and for people who still write music, not manufacture it.

I'm thankful for abilities I have, for the brain in my head, for the heart in my chest,  and for health and strength.

I could write ten pages of things I'm thankful, but I'll stop there for now.



A few years ago, my family was at my grandparent's house eating Thanksgiving dinner with my dad's family and as is a common Thanksgiving ritual, we were all asked to write down something we're thankful for and put it in a hat. Then the slips of paper would be drawn one at a time and everyone would try to guess who said it. Most of the answers were pretty generic, but there were a few good ones. One of my uncles wrote down, in order, his top five brands of ketchup, because apparently he's most grateful for that condiment. A few minutes later, after everyone had quit laughing, another interesting answer was drawn from the hat. I'm thankful for stupid people, it read.

It turns out, that it was my father who wrote this down. Everyone questioned him on why. My father explained his answer thusly: "Well, since I am an attorney, stupid people keep me in business. Most of what I do... Bankruptcies, divorces, crimes all of them happen because someone is stupid. So I'm thankful for stupid people. Also, whenever I feel down, I can look at my clients and feel good about myself because I'm just not THAT stupid."

So, today, I admit. I'm thankful for stupid people who provided the money with which my parents bought a delicious meal. I'm thankful for stupid people that keep the news interesting. I'm thankful for stupid people that make life bearable.