Turkey and Fixin's

Turkey and Fixin’s

Recently I watched a fun video posted to Facebook about speaking Southern. As I have lived in Southwest Missouri now for more than 30 years, I could relate to a lot of what was said and laughed. However, I’ll never forget my first visit here back in 1982 when a waitress asked me if along with my meal if I wanted some “wyat braid.” Having never been farther south than Gurnee, Illinois (big amusement park just outside of Chicago), the southern drawl was a VERY foreign language to me. In fact, I bought a book after this called, “How to Speak Southern.” It was meant, I think, as a laugher, but it was SOOO accurate! : )

ANYWAY, as my friends explained to me after the “deer in the headlights” look I kept giving the waitress, that the southern “wyat braid” is the same as the northern “white bread,” all was fine . . . yeah, you guessed it, I didn’t ask for anything else and let my friends do the translating for me the rest of the meal! : )

So, why bring this up as we approach Thanksgiving? Well, when you bring up the idea of doing a 5K Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning to your family (and perhaps extended family), they may look at you just as I looked at that waitress. Whaaaaaaaaaaaat? : )

Here’s the deal, though. IF you want to make this a family tradition, just agree to walk the 5K with them! It’s a lot of fun (which they won’t believe until they try it) and if you’re willing to forego running it in order to spend time strolling the course with your family, hey, just look at it as investment in the future. Imagine if they got done and really enjoyed their time! Next year, they’ll be bringing it up . . . maybe one of them will even say, “Maybe I could jog it with you next year!”

The idea is, if you want to do a Turkey Trot and make it an annual family event, start out at THEIR pace this year. Show them the fun. Wear the T-shirts after the event all day! Celebrate their accomplishment. I mean, during the 5K you may hear all kinds of moaning and groaning, but if you compliment their efforts afterwards, tell them how great it was to have them out there, that they did great, etc., well . . . let me ask you this. After your first marathon (or long race), you likely thought somewhere along the way, “What in the world am I doing out here? I’m NEVER doing this again!” Well, this is your family’s marathon. Allow them to question themselves DURING the event, but AFTER it, be positive, complimentary, encouraging, laughing about things you guys experienced together, the funny things you saw, make it a MEMORY!

In time, the “pain” or whatever discomfort they may have experienced during the 5K will fade and the fun will remain (just like YOUR marathon experience) . . . and by November NEXT year, when you bring it up again, the answer to your “wyat braid” Turkey Trot question may very well be, “Yeah, why not? Last year was kinda fun. The T-shirts were pretty cool . . . .”

And is there a better way to start Thanksgiving Day off than doing a 5K with family?!?

Have an awesome run today!

Dan