This is not going to be an entirely political rant, so those of you who are politics-weary, please read on beyond my initial paragraphs and I promise you’ll have a chuckle.
So, forward-thinking, democracy-loving, diversity-embracing, anti-Trump voters scored a huge victory on this past Election Day. It was a victory for all Americans whether they voted or not, and it was a victory for all Americans whether they realize it now. I feel actual pity for anyone who is not a racist and who is not in favor of protecting pedophiles, rapists and insurrectionists, but who still, for some totally unfathomable reason, aligns themselves with the MAGA movement.
I feel pity for those who fall into this category and I cannot hide my anger toward anyone who falls into this category. All I can think to say to these people is to repeat the words shouted by Cher as Loretta Casterini in “Moonstruck,” when she slapped Nicholas Cage across his face and yelled, “Snap out of it!”
Wake up, people! We must keep this momentum going. We must be vigilant in our awareness, in our engagement and with our next vote. So, some of you made a mistake. You believed the lies. And that’s ok. Just suck it up, get over it and move on.
If you don’t help the rest of us defeat this out-of-control, lawless regime you will eventually wake up to discover you are truly living under a dictatorship where you have absolutely no rights upon which you may rely. This is some serious shit and it’s time we all get with the program, regardless of differences in ideology, and work together to save our democracy.
Now that I’ve got that off my chest, I’d like to serve up a little lighter Viewpoint fare for the holidays. Growing up in the Pine Rock Park neighborhood of Shelton, Connecticut, we had a family dog named Tippy. He was huge! A cross between a German Shepherd and Bloodhound. Tippy had the body stature and colorings of a giant German Shepherd but with a huge hound dog head and big ole floppy ears. Tippy was known by name throughout our neighborhood where few people tied up or penned their dogs. Dogs roamed free all over the streets of Pine Rock Park and Tippy was a well-known and well-liked rover.
One Thanksgiving, when I was about 12 or 13 years old, the entire Wanzie clan and then some were gathered around our very long dining room table with the typical feast laid out before us. Mom had left the kitchen door purposely ajar to let some of the kitchen heat escape. With heads bowed, on this one and only day of the entire year that our family said grace, our giving of thanks was interrupted when Tippy came trotting in through the kitchen door excited to share his find with the family. Tippy triumphantly bounded into the dining room and stood there, proud as a peacock, as if to say to all assembled “Hey, family, look what I found.” Gripped within his enormous jaws was a fully cooked, golden-brown, still-steaming, 12-pound Turkey!
We were all aghast, as we vacillated between shrieks of horror and bouts of uncontrollable laughter. We were collectively heartsick for whichever neighbor had their turkey too close to an open window or left it out on the back stoop to cool. But we couldn’t stop laughing and found it even harder to scold the dog. We never did find out whose Thanksgiving Day bird Tippy had gotten hold of, but he was one proud doggy and that was one Thanksgiving I will never forget.
There was always an argument over which two of us kids would get to break apart the wishbone with the lucky kid who got the bigger end supposedly getting his wish fulfilled. That one year when Tippy contributed to our meal, we had two wish bones, so for the first time ever, four Wanzie kids got to participate in the annual bone breaking ritual, thus it was truly a Thanksgiving worth remembering.
All that is to say, I would like to wish a Happy Thanksgiving to all, and I do very much hope you will join my dear friend Deloris Scrud for her holiday show opening on Saturday Dec. 6 in the Starlite Room at SAVOY Orlando.
In the meantime, don’t forget to remove the wishbone from your holiday bird and hang it from a kitchen cabinet doorknob to dry out while you eat. If the wishbone-breaking tug of war is a forgotten tradition you may have abandoned as an adult, think about reviving the practice this year, and let’s all agree to make the very the same wish; that our democracy will be preserved. That way no matter who gets the bigger end of the bone we all stand to benefit.
Michael Wanzie is an Orlando-based playwright, actor and ordained minister. He is most recognized for his direction of productions in the Central Florida area.
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