Thankful for Restaurants

Ah, Thanksgiving. Quite possibly one of the best Holidays of the entire year.

It's the only day we literally wake up and have only one goal: EAT. We then spend most of our day waiting for the glorious time to come when we finally get to chow down.

Interestingly enough, even though Thanksgiving is committed to food/eating almost every single restaurant is closed.

Today you couldn't get Starbucks, Chipotle, Panera, Olive Garden, or Chick-fil-A. Sure some local bars might have been open, but other than that you couldn't get any of your favorite foods/drinks.

I suppose on Thanksgiving it's not that big of a deal. After all, you're counting on your mom/grandma/spouse or crazy aunt to cook for you, and you spent all day sitting on your butt at home waiting for the food to come out.

But, can you imagine living tomorrow without any restaurants? Can you fathom not having restaurant service and food available to you? No coffee, no drinks, no burgers, no salads, no chicken sandwiches, no steak, no bagels. Maybe you would just eat leftovers from today, or maybe it would be the worst day of your entire life.

I think we take for granted what restaurants give us. We don't realize how involved in our lives they are. Every day they open their doors to us, welcome us in and want to give us all an amazing experience. The chefs/owners spend countless hours preparing everything perfectly just for us.

In many ways, restaurants are the heartbeat of America. Think about the life moments that happen over a restaurant table every single day: people get engaged, laugh, cry, fall in love, plan, get a job, get fired, have meetings, share stories, or gossip. You could sum it up by saying: restaurants provide human connection like nothing else in life. A day without restaurants wouldn't just be a day without food, but also a day without important connections.

Today, I'm thankful for restaurants. Thankful for the service they provide to us, grateful for the food they prepare, and most importantly thrilled that every day they gives us a place to talk, work, laugh and live.