Do the Unexpected

Every year the holidays roll around and we all resume our roles as slaves to tradition. Chances are whatever you did last Thanksgiving, Christmas/Hanukkah, and New Year’s, you’ll no doubt come close to repeating this time around. Sure, maybe you’ll dine at Uncle Maury’s house instead of Uncle Al’s, but I’m guessing the itineraries will be very much the same old, same old. Wouldn’t it be nice to break the zombie routine just once?

Traditions start innocently and then we’re chained to them. If turkey is on the menu one year, then certainly no other white meat will ever do. If holiday presents are opened in order from youngest to oldest, how could one deviate this time around? If Grandma doesn’t plunk down that sponge cake this year—as she’s done every year since FDR — well, how can we go on another minute? And as always, attendance at all family gatherings is mandatory. What are we, robots?

Now I’m all for tradition. After all, I’m the biggest lemming of the bunch, never one to miss a single Yuletide affair—or an opening day at Wrigley, if you must get technical. Who am I to be a contrarian? And true, if it wasn’t for a radical, shocking, and totally tradition-busting Thanksgiving getaway last year, I’d be digging out the cranberry recipes right now. No, what I’m asking you to do—nay, what I’m daring you to do, is to do the unexpected. If duty and obligation calls for Plan A this holiday season, I say shock the world with Plan B. Zig when you normally zag. Break the mold, think outside of your holiday box, be different. Why? Because every tradition had a first time, and between you, me, and that fruitcake gathering dust in the corner, your routine’s getting a little stale.

Sure, I was shocked to awake Thanksgiving morning to warm, California breezes instead of the sounds of neighbors scraping ice off their windshields. And you bet it was weird feasting on haute cuisine overlooking the Pacific Ocean instead of green bean casserole back in Illinois. Was it odd to spend the day at the beach instead of beached on the couch watching the Packers-Lions game? Absolutely. Did I miss it? Not a chance. When the in-laws spot for a trip to Southern California during November, you take it every time, people. Really now, how can a round of poolside piña coladas ever be a bad thing? Starting to see my point?

The fact that I felt guilty calling my family that morning with sand still between my toes only confirmed what I knew—that it was good to do something new, something different. They labeled me a patsy, of course, but then again, I’ve always thought that too much stuffing tends to make people short-tempered. My Dad couldn’t believe I’d take the West Coast over blood. But then, he’s been on autopilot for the holidays for decades. Perhaps I should get him a ticket somewhere warm for Christmas?

I can take the sentimental path here and say that when we deviate from the norm we appreciate what we have that much more. But really, isn’t sentimentality what got us entrenched in these holiday minutiae in the first place? Isn’t sentimentality the reason we collect like drones around the same table, in the same house, to eat the same food, and kick about the same conversations year after year?

Bust the rut and do something crazy. This year, throw the stockings in the fire and plan something different. Those in the north should travel south. Those in the west should head east. Experienced in warm-weather New Year’s? I say, do as the Midwesterners do and cozy around a fireplace somewhere. Those sick of shivering Decembers should try Hanukkah with a tan or a Christmas spent collecting seashells. Who knows, maybe a whole new slew of traditions will take hold? Would that be so bad? Bad is watching that tedious Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on television, if you ask me.

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