So much has changed since graduation. Everyone I’ve survived college with is off on their next adventure. There wasn’t the rush of everyone leaving campus together, riding the same train to the airport or the bus to NYC. Some people even had to go back to work on Friday, though most took out a vacation day anyway. As for me? I was blessed to celebrate Thanksgiving the same way I did the last three years: with Georgina’s family in NYC. Not only do I still live in Philly, which is close enough to visit NYC for a long weekend or day trip, but also Georgina and I are currently roomies. There was no way she’d let me spend Thanksgiving alone in Philly!
Georgina headed to NYC on the eve of Thanksgiving and I headed over the day after. I hoped that most people would schedule their travels for the day before Thanksgiving, leaving the road open for me to travel the next day. The logic was sound, and my bus arrived in NYC pretty close to schedule (~2:30PM on Thanksgiving day), but getting to the drop-off location was a different story.
There was a turn we needed to take that was blocked off by the police, presumably for the Thanksgiving parade earlier in the day. Shaken off course, the bus driver tried his best to navigate back to the drop-off location, but it soon became clear that he had no idea where he was going; he was asking passengers for directions over the intercom.
I found it hilarious but other passengers weren’t quite so amused. You could hear the New Yorkers shouting the directions back to the driver, trying to keep their tone level. I heard a lady behind me say under her breath, “Just drop. us. off!” and another one ask, “Where the fuck is this guy going?” I felt so bad for the bus driver, and as a directionally-challenged person myself, I empathised with him. I mean, he usually takes the same route between Philly and NYC every day; he doesn’t need to know how to navigate within the cities!
I texted Georgina, who was safely home already, an update about the delay. She said not to worry; she had told her dad about my 2:30PM estimated arrival, and he had the foresight to assume that would mean I’d arrive closer to 5:00PM.
As the bus driver wound through the streets of NYC, the lady next to me tapped me on the shoulder and handed me a Notes app message on her phone, asking why the bus wasn’t taking its normal route to the drop-off location. That’s when I realised that she was Deaf. I hadn’t noticed before because I had my Airpods in, and when she gestured at me earlier in the trip to let her through to the aisle (perhaps for the bathroom), I thought nothing of it, because I was wearing my Airpods, so it would only be natural for someone to communicate with me by gesturing rather than by speaking. But when she came back, I thought I saw her sign “thank you” in ASL. But I wasn’t really paying attention so I wasn’t sure, and “thank you” is such a short, simple sign that it could have just been a gesture of acknowledgement. But anyways, I finally concluded that she was Deaf. Plus, she later Facetimed someone and signed the whole way through, and that couldn’t be mistaken for a simple gesture.
She was confused, not having heard the announcement over the intercom. I typed back to her that a turn was blocked off by the police, so the bus driver was trying to get us back to the drop-off location a different way. At that moment, I so wished that I remembered what I learned that one semester in college I took an ASL course. But even though I didn’t remember vocabulary, I’m thankful that I remembered what I learned about Deaf culture, so that course wasn’t all for naught. I learned that you should always let the Deaf person determine the mode of communication. For her with me, it was by typing on the Notes app. I’m sure that would have been much preferred over my broken signing. I learned that there’s nothing wrong with calling Deaf people Deaf, and in fact, it’s a point of pride. I learned that it isn’t rude to touch/tap Deaf people to get their attention. So for the rest of the trip, I typed updates she couldn’t hear over the intercom and tapped her shoulder to get her attention without feeling anxious about bursting her personal bubble.
In the end, the bus driver called dispatch and received turn-by-turn instructions to let us off at the departure location instead. Many passengers groaned about it (me too, but internally), because the departure location is at the edge of the city, whereas the drop-off location is more central. But I was just thankful to finally get off the bus and hustle my hungry butt over to Georgina’s for Thanksgiving dinner. The Deaf lady and I communicated our joy at arriving and we wished each other a happy Thanksgiving.
I got to Georgina’s around 4:45PM, and just after 5:30PM, we tucked in for Thanksgiving dinner. Georgina’s mom lit some candles and called out for the Google Home to play Christmas music, to which Georgina cried out aghast, “Mom! It’s Thanksgiving!!” (Georgina’s mom: “There’s no such thing as Thanksgiving music!” Georgina: *betrayaaaal* ) Easily the highlight of my Thanksgiving. I’ve been playing Christmas music since September, but Georgina just wouldn’t have it in our apartment, at least not before Thanksgiving, so I would play it when she was out. She da grinch.
It was comforting to see all the same foods laid out as in the previous years, even though we were missing three people from our squad: Ami, Grace, and Victoria. In college, the five of us (those three + Georgina + me) would always go over to Georgina’s for Thanksgiving and it was our sacred tradition. We would have one turkey at the center of the table and tons of sides to pass around. This year we still had one whole turkey and pretty much the same sides as well.
After one giant plate, I was full, and yet, we had barely made a dent in the Thanksgiving spread. I did have space for one slice of apple pie and one slice of pumpkin pie though.
The next morning, Georgina and I polished off some more of our Thanksgiving dinner for brunch, and then headed out to do some holiday shopping before I had to catch the bus back to Philly. Two years ago I had popped by the Union Square Holiday Market (where I got my beloved elephant illustration, featured in my room tour), and this year we checked out the Grand Central Terminal Holiday Market and Bryant Park Holiday Market.
The Grand Central Terminal Holiday Market had fancier stuff, whereas the Bryant Park Holiday Market had craftier stuff. The Bryant Park Holiday Market was definitely more my vibe, but I did find one vendor I liked at the Grand Central Terminal Holiday Market: fashion illustrations by Verrier Handcrafted. At the Bryant Park Holiday Market, I spent a fair bit of time browsing Pamela Barsky‘s cheeky pouches.
Before long, it was time to rush off to my bus. I didn’t even have time to do Black Friday shopping, though that was probably for the best. I was tempted to pop by Uniqlo for an ultra light down vest though. Two weeks ago I had bought a Uniqlo ultra light down jacket, which I wore to NYC for Thanksgiving, but it wasn’t warm enough. To be fair, I later found out that it was tied with 1901 for NYC’s second-coldest Thanksgiving ever, the coldest being 1871. When Georgina’s mom told me that she always wears her down vest under her down jacket when she walks the dog out at night, it was the most genius thing I had ever heard. I later bought the Uniqlo ultra light down vest online when I got home.
Back in Philly, I had planned to spend the rest of the weekend in, but whilst browsing Instagram, I found out that Saturday would be Small Business Saturday. An opportune time to do some more holiday shopping, no? Let the festivities commence!
How are your holidays coming along?
PS: thanksgiving 2017 (nyc), thanksgiving 2016 (nyc), thanksgiving 2015 (nyc), thanksgiving 2014 (sf)