Some Like It Scott: Not At All Like Reindeer Games

November 26, 2006

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In his fourth blog, Scott talks about the joys of being a jew at the dinner table. YOu can always read more of Scott at his blog "Some Like it Scott."

As if you didn’t already know, my family is Jewish so you have to understand that we were never like the Kennedy family at Thanksgiving, playing touch football in the front yard or even watching football games on television.

I think my mother was afraid we’d get hurt just by watching sports. Her mantra, “Sports bad, shopping good.” For us, it’s all about sitting together; retelling old family stories (much to the amazement of my brother who apparently had a completely different childhood than I did). My brother remembers nothing that I remember or that my parents do, it’s the strangest thing but apparently quite common. Although you would think we would have some of the same memories considering we’re only 22 months apart. The games we play are not reserved just for Thanksgiving and they are not at all similar to reindeer games.

My family has mastered the art of talking backward. Now I know a lot of Jews do it but I dare say we could take any of them on and win the gold medal at the Olympics! I’m not talking some version of pig Latin here, I mean our phrasing is different than normal people and we always end everything with a question. For example, while you might say something like, “The cake is good.” We would say, “It’s good, the cake, no?” I have no concrete answers as to why we’ve always spoken this way, it is just tradition and so it continues on through the ages. Isn’t that what Thanksgiving is all about, traditions? (See the opening number from Fiddler On The Roof if you’re confused)

Another tradition that isn’t really reserved for Thanksgiving is our classic family game of “I’m sicker than you are.”

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