Today is a day to be thankful.  There are many things I am thankful for, as I am about to become one of the have-nots.  My father's job is being eliminated in January as the Human Resources departments of the Blood Services and Chapter Services sections of the American Red Cross Southeastern Michigan Chapter merge due to lack of funding.  Nobody's donating locally.  More War in '04, anyone?

I find myself thankful for not only the many, many earthly possessions I have (laptop, internet connection, however weak, television, speakers), but also for those things more ethereal (The capacity to shut a door and shut out the world, the music I listen to, the program I use to download the music, however illegal that may be).  And on a deeper level I am thankful for my friends, those few people who /don't/ just come to me because they have problems; and those who /don't/ see me as a number; and those who /really/ don't just like everyone (including me) enough to earn their respect, and no further; but those who actually value my opinions and enjoy spending time in my presence, even if it is just to borrow their electricity when the power goes out.

I am thankful for the many opportunities I will have.  I am thankful for my intelligence, as it has given me many opportunities.  I am the first person /ever/ to hold an independent study position at the Career Center, a magical building at which I learn how to administer a Cisco network.  I am thankful for the capacity to turn off my emotions and look with the clinical eye of a scientist, even if I /do/ have to literally talk to myself to do it.

I am thankful for the capacity to feel.

An old man once stopped me on my way from the bus.  "Long day at school?" he asked.  "Always," I said.  "Enjoy them while you can," he said.  "They're the best days of your life."  I am thankful, oh, so much, for the capacity to lose my reasons and enjoy myself in the moment, not worrying about the rough draft that was due yesterday and remains unwritten, not worrying about what the teacher will do to my paper(read: tweeze it apart) as a result of my draftlessness.  I am thankful for that selective apathy that comes so hard to most AP students.  You can't work well if you're stressed.  Hell, even asking someone you trust not to break your neck to give you a back rub can help.  Respiratory illnesses, however, cannot.

I am thankful for the ability to express myself in words instead of actions.  Actions speak louder than words?  Fie.  Even a virus, an inanimate parasite, is capable of action.  Take a look at what it's doing to my lungs.  Words, however, are far more difficult to create.  The only people who suggest that words are weak are those who cannot use them.  The pen, in truth, is mightier than the sword, because the pen can influence in ways the blade cannot.  Last year I wrote an article about the unjust ticket prices of the Homecoming Dance.  I would never have gone to such a thing, rest assured, but equality is high on my priority list.  The prices were, oddly, changed to a perfectly fair and level rate.

Threatening the Student Activities director with a weapon would hardly have gotten the same result, wouldn't you say?

I think, however, the thing I've used most recently is my library card, simply because of the wealth of information the library makes available.  My library will bring CDs from any of the branch libraries in the network to my home branch for pickup.  This gives me access to at least 50% of the last three decades of music available in the United States, which is really all I care for.  And, of course, enough books to keep me occupied until death.
Go support your library.  Pay your late fees.

The point is, you don't know what you've got until its existence is threatened.  You don't appreciate things until their absence hurts you.  A large part of my existence is going to be threatened if ever we lose internet access.  The unemployment in January will threaten my college opportunities.  A scheduling conflict almost ended my Cisco career.  A dead grandfather made me ponder my own mortality.

I've had so many bad things happen in the last few years it's a wonder I'm not crazy.  I've broken three MP3 players, one laptop (not the current one, that's all Windows's fault,) two CD players, two hearts, and about three romantics.
I've not gained enough to counteract my bad luck.  The money for my laptop actually /needed/ spending.  My guess is it's bad karma.  I'm due for a change.

May the winter leave everything clean and pure, that we may start over in the spring.  That, neighbor, is something for which we should all be thankful.  I don't know about you, but I believe this year got seriously screwed up.  May we, in the future, have the strength to change the things we now cannot.