Welcome to the newest article about my time at Det 175! This is also an excuse to let you know there are new stickers in the shop, and the coupon code “holidaycheer” still gets you 10% off your entire order. Help me reduce my inventory of Norseman Creative gear and get yourself a signed copy of any of my books! Enjoy the post, and have a great thanksgiving!
“You guys are missing the point,” I said firmly, almost angrily. “The point is not to just give people food, the point is to provide a space for the cadets to go if they aren’t going home for Thanksgiving.”
“But not everyone will be here,” replied the cadet, who was still missing the point. “If we have a potluck on Thanksgiving, a bunch of people won’t come because they are with their families. They are left out of the event.” The last part stated matter-of-factly, smugly, as if it was some sort of checkmate.
“That’s my point,” I responded, exasperated. “The cadets who don’t come are still invited, but they have the ability to choose to have dinner with their families. What do the cadets who do not have families on the island do if they aren’t flying home?”
The light bulbs started flickering behind the cadets’ eyes around the conference table in front of me. I had been fighting this battle for the better part of a month, when the cadets asked me if I would be willing to help them smoke a turkey for their Thanksgiving festivities. I had no problem with smoking a turkey, I will take any excuse to pull the smoker out, but the cadets wanted to have their Thanksgiving party after PT the Tuesday prior to the actual holiday.
Their logic was to be as inclusive as possible. The cadet leadership in the detachment wanted everyone to have the opportunity to attend. Actually, when you really listened to the cadet leadership, they wanted to force everyone to attend. My problem with their plan was that PT ended at 0700. Not only is 0700 a strange time to eat turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and all the classic Thanksgiving fixin’s, smoking a turkey takes a lot of time.
I did my best to explain, but even though the lightbulbs started flickering, the cadets dug in their heels. It was important to them that all cadets attend, even those who were headed to the loving embrace of their families over the holiday. It was even more important to the cadet leadership to avoid admitting they were wrong. No matter how hard I tried to explain the feeling of being away from family over the holidays, I could tell it wasn’t quite sinking in. Most of the cadet leadership team either had family living on Oahu or were headed home as soon as classes were over for the week.
That first year, I ended up smoking a turkey for the cadets overnight the night before their event. The turkey turned out great, lauded by many of the cadets as the best one ever. Contrary to what the cadet leadership team had assumed, most of the cadets came, loaded up to-go plates of food, then pissed off back to their dorm rooms, completely defeating the point of having our Thanksgiving potluck on Tuesday anyway.
The following year, I put my foot down. If we were doing a potluck on a Tuesday morning, I wasn’t smoking them a turkey. That second year, I was in Minnesota hunting for a couple weeks before Thanksgiving, and during my absence, Lt Col Arguello put his foot down over the potluck. We still didn’t celebrate on Thanksgiving Day, but the afternoon before, on Wednesday. Lt Col Arguello also decided to take care of the turkey, buying a pair of pre-cooked turkey breasts to satiate the cadets.
Finally, during my third and final year at the Detachment, I got my way. The cadet leadership team understood that the point of hosting a Thanksgiving party was not for the cadets who are headed home to the loving embrace of their families. “Detsgiving” was for everyone, but especially those cadets who were stuck far away from their families.
Jenny and I drove to the detachment Thanksgiving morning lugging two turkeys and with both dogs in tow. It was Calvin’s birthday, and he liked nothing more than to spend time with the cadets, who were highly likely to slip him bits of food under the table. We pulled the smoker out of the storage room and put both turkeys inside when the smoker finished pre-heating.
Ryan, one of the other cadre, also brought a turkey, justifying my purchase of the largest version of Traeger. Seeing three turkeys lined up side-by-side really validated my decision to forgo the digital, app-enabled capabilities of the smaller grills.
With the turkeys smoking, Jenny, Ryan, and I opened up the detachment and staged the conference room for the rest of the food on its way. We plugged a laptop into the conference room TV and turned on a movie while we waited for the rest of the attendees to show up.
The first cadets started trickling in within minutes, dropping off their potluck contributions. I was surprised, and impressed, at how much home-made food the cadets brought. When you imagine a college dorm room or cheap apartment, you don’t necessarily conjure up a full-fledged kitchen in your mind. Nonetheless, dozens of cadets filtered through the potluck, many of them with home-made dishes to contribute.
Some of the cadets stayed all day, watching football and movies and eating mounds of food. Many cadets came by just to grab a plate and hang out for a few hours before going to visit other friends and their families.
Overall, Detsgiving was a resounding success, giving every cadet a place to call “home” for Thanksgiving. The cadets were even able to play with a couple of dogs who were more than happy to get as many pets and scratches as the cadets could give them. Being away from family over the holidays can be a terribly depressing time, and I was glad we were able to provide a place of comfort for the day.
That’s all for this week, folks! Check out the shop for Black Friday and/or Cyber Monday if you want to support Norseman Creative. More importantly, have an outstanding Thanksgiving!
Those cadets are lucky to have had your leadership (and support dogs)!