Text 11355, 139 rader
Skriven 2013-11-30 18:54:16 av Lee Lofaso (2:203/2)
  Kommentar till text 11343 av Bj"rn Felten (2:203/2)
Ärende: Louisiana Thanksgiving
==============================
Hello Björn,

 LL>> is part of American society. But culture and society are not the
 LL>> same thing. IOW, Thanksgiving is not part of Cajun culture.

BF>Thanks Lee. That's what I thought.

How the idea of pilgrims eating turkey came about is beyond me.  But
that is what everybody eats on Thanksgiving Day, so it must be true.
Even though Thanksgiving is not part of our culture, we eat turkey
just like everybody else.  Call it the herd mentality, or following
the maddening crowd.

 LL>> essence, what they believed. Anybody who believed otherwise was a
 LL>> heretic and was to be burned at the stake. That they knew.

BF>Salem to that. 8-)

It is impossible to burn a witch at the stake.  Think about it.
How do you kill a witch?  The Wizard of Oz knows how, but he's not
telling (his true love is Glenda, a very good witch who never does
evil).

 LL>> of Britain). With the exception of a small area around Baltimore,
 LL>> Maryland, most Cajuns settled in south Louisiana. Cajuns were
 LL>> run off everyplace else they tried to settle.

BF>Except in the southern swamps, where no white man could survive?

Something like that.  Outside of Baltimore is a small swampy area
that was uninhabited, except for fish and wildlife.  Being in close
proximity to Baltimore allowed Cajuns to develop friendships with
the locals over the years.  In Louisiana, the area where Cajuns
settled was in the Atchafalaya Basin, the largest swamp in North
America.  if you think Pogo had a swamp to play in, you ain't
seen nothing, as the swamp I live in is HUGE.  :)

 LL>> And yet it is all true, from a Cajun perspective. Remember, Cajuns
 LL>> settled Louisiana before Americans arrived. That was a time when
 LL>> everybody spoke French, Spanish, or some Native American tongue, with
 LL>> nobody speaking English.

BF>Ah yes, sorry about that. Over here we always tend to forget the
BF>unofficial colonisation and only hear about the official, New England
BF>version. You are right, of course, mea culpa.

Imagine the history of America had the British won the Revolutionary
War.  There would have been no United States of America.  But we won
that war, only to have to win a SECOND war against the British in
order to keep our independence.

Imagine the history of America had the British won the Battle of New
Orleans.  The British had already burned down Washington, DC.  Although
the British and Americans had signed a treaty to end the war, it would
not have been honored or respected by the British.  IOW, we would all
be subjects of the king (or queen).  Except for Cajuns, who would have
been forced into exile - or more likely executed on sight.

For us, our heroes are Andrew Jackson and Jean Lafitte.  We have
a statue of Andrew Jackson riding his horse in Jackson Square, right
in front of St. Louis Cathedral (actually a minor basilica).

Jean Lafitte was a pirate, but a very kind pirate to Cajuns.  His
brother (Dominique Youx) freed Napoleon Bonaparte from exile, and was
paid handsomly (in gold coin) for doing so.  Unfortunately, Napoleon
wound up getting shot dead by his wife (she mistook him for a burglar),
and his double lost a battle at Waterloo, his remaining days spent on
another island in the middle of nowhere - never to return.

Jean Lafitte left the area, sailing to somewhere he could not be
found.  Dominique Youx returned to New Orleans after freeing Napoleon,
was elected to local office, and spent the rest of his days drinking
and chasing skirts.

 LL>> All kidding aside, Thanksgiving is not a part of Cajun culture, but
 LL>> is a part of American society. Some countries have a Thanksgiving, but
 LL>> a different kind of Thanksgiving than what we experience in America.

BF>Exactly true. It's almost always a Christian kind of thing -- except
BF>in North America -- but as fewer and fewer people in the world
BF>believe in those old fairy tales (in Sweden less than 5% of the
BF>population is religious now), it gets more and more forgotten and
BF>surpassed into the story book sections in our libraries.

We also have Black Friday, which has become kind of like an extension
of Thanksgiving.  Yesterday a fight broke out at a local store, the
action getting so heavy that security had to be called.  What were
people fighting about?  $2 towels.  The stuff that was broken because
of the fight cost far more to replace than the cost of the towels ...

 LL>> Christmas is celebrated in different ways around the world.

BF>In Scandinavia we have never celebrated Christmas. We have always
BF>celebrated Jul (as in Yuletide). Jul is derived from one of the many
BF>names of the Norse god Odin. The celebration is not caused by some
BF>prophet being born, but simply to celebrate the annual return of the
BF>sun (midwinter solace).

People always find reasons to celebrate, even if there is no reason.
Doesn't matter who they are, or where they are from.  It has been my
experience that people like to party.  Even those who like to claim
otherwise.  Show them a good time, and they will have a good time.
Of course, there are exceptions.  But those exceptions are very rare.

 LL>> Even the meaning of Christmas differs. For example, children
 LL>> in America look at Christmas as being Santa Claus coming down
 LL>> a chimney bringing them tons of toys (made by elves) to play
 LL>> with, even when there is no chimney for Santa to come sliding
 LL>> down on ...

BF>Ah yes. If you want to teach your children to believe the most
BF>stupid things, why not start when they are really small kids.

Especially war.  Start by teaching kids how to play video games.
Especially violent video games.  By the time they are 18, they are
experts with a joystick and can fly real drones loaded with bombs.

The military tries to get youngsters to sign up rather than old
coots because nobody in their right mind would think of war as being
a good thing.  Have to sign `em up when they are still young and
stupid.  And deny them the right to drink or smoke.  But they can
vote.  Oh, yes.  Young people can still vote.  But few bother.

BF>In Sweden we used to put more or less pleasant "presents" on the
BF>doorstep of our neighbours on Julafton (your Christmas eve). Those
BF>could range from a bag of cow dung to more pleasant things like a
BF>loaf of bread or a bowl of porridge, depending on your feelings for
BF>said neighbour.

The best Christmas present the American people could get would be
for President Obama to bring our boys and girls in uniform home from
Afghanistan.

FACT: The average age of an American soldier killed in Vietnam was 19.

--Lee

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