OMG! Buffalo Chicken Wing dip!!! It will surely kill you, in a good way. This delicious train wreck of an appetizer shows up at every Kadet family occasion (we are from Buffalo) including Thanksgiving. It’s also a great breakfast! Enjoy with totilla chips and a Coca-Cola! I am VERY looking forward to tomorrow. Happy Thanksgiving Holly!!,
Nov 23, 2022·edited Nov 23, 2022Liked by Holly Rabalais
Even though I’ve long had enough seniority to hold the day off, I intentionally work every Thanksgiving.
There are some very obvious reasons: light workload, good pay, and being done at 12:30.
I mean, No one I know has family over or Thanksgiving brunch, right?
Every year someone asks me what I’m thinking. And I get to tell this story:
In 1998, I took a temporary transfer to Memphis Tennessee. It was-and remains- the only time I’ve lived in the south. I worked in a hub surrounded by 100s of other coworkers and didn’t know a single one. I had just clocked in a few weeks prior- there hadn’t been time to make acquaintances, let alone friends.
The guy I rented a room from was off to visit his kids. My girlfriend at the time was working in Chicago. I was 1 guy, 2 time zones from home. Even the unit I was assigned to was at the far end of the B concourse. I was a long way from home & we were a long ways from every one else.
But that Thanksgiving, we had a potluck. Our unit ground handled KLM, and I think(?) they supplied the turkey. Everyone else brought delicious homemade sides. I brought…Fritos.
I know, I know. To be fair, I was 23 and renting a room in a strange town.
At any rate, we ate in our ready room, and as we did a revelation hit me like lightning; family is what you make it. I didn’t know these people too well, but I spent every day with them.
The truth is, I’ve never felt more welcome anywhere on T-day than I did that day. It rearranged my mind, and I swore that I would do my part to see that anyone else in my shoes would be made to feel the same way.
Aviation can be transient as it is, with people coming & going even during good times. With COVID and the massive turnover we’ve seen, there will be more than one person on the roster spending their first T-day at work.
My goal is to make them feel the way I did all those years ago.
When I was traveling alone in Thailand, I was pretty scared and nervous. I had quit my fancy job and chosen to go across the world to a kickboxing camp to train, lose weight and experience something different. I’ll always remember a select few people who opened themselves up to me immediately, gave me a seat at their table for dinner and made me feel welcome. It was very easy to spot a new person at this ‘camp’ we were all living in. So it was mighty kind of them. They could have just let me sit alone or ignored me. I’ll never forget how important that feeling was, so I tried to pay that same feeling forward.
I changed cities recently and a friend helped me tremendously by letting me stay with him for an extra few days as my furniture took too long to arrive. This thread made me think of that experience with a lot of gratitude. Thank you!
Holly, Too funny about the chicken wing dip. My husband wants to make it and I was so confused. LOL. So glad to know this is a thing. Have a Happy Thanksgiving.
I've been seeing a lot of pro-canned cranberry sauce content on the internet lately and I NEED to make my case for homemade cranberry sauce. I grew up eating the canned stuff, but once my family tried making it ourselves, we collectively saw the light. Not only is cranberry sauce probably the easiest side dish to cook (throw everything in a pot and stir! Done!), but it is infinitely more delicious than anything you can get from a can. And that is my official stance on cranberry sauce. Thank you.
OMG! Buffalo Chicken Wing dip!!! It will surely kill you, in a good way. This delicious train wreck of an appetizer shows up at every Kadet family occasion (we are from Buffalo) including Thanksgiving. It’s also a great breakfast! Enjoy with totilla chips and a Coca-Cola! I am VERY looking forward to tomorrow. Happy Thanksgiving Holly!!,
Even though I’ve long had enough seniority to hold the day off, I intentionally work every Thanksgiving.
There are some very obvious reasons: light workload, good pay, and being done at 12:30.
I mean, No one I know has family over or Thanksgiving brunch, right?
Every year someone asks me what I’m thinking. And I get to tell this story:
In 1998, I took a temporary transfer to Memphis Tennessee. It was-and remains- the only time I’ve lived in the south. I worked in a hub surrounded by 100s of other coworkers and didn’t know a single one. I had just clocked in a few weeks prior- there hadn’t been time to make acquaintances, let alone friends.
The guy I rented a room from was off to visit his kids. My girlfriend at the time was working in Chicago. I was 1 guy, 2 time zones from home. Even the unit I was assigned to was at the far end of the B concourse. I was a long way from home & we were a long ways from every one else.
But that Thanksgiving, we had a potluck. Our unit ground handled KLM, and I think(?) they supplied the turkey. Everyone else brought delicious homemade sides. I brought…Fritos.
I know, I know. To be fair, I was 23 and renting a room in a strange town.
At any rate, we ate in our ready room, and as we did a revelation hit me like lightning; family is what you make it. I didn’t know these people too well, but I spent every day with them.
The truth is, I’ve never felt more welcome anywhere on T-day than I did that day. It rearranged my mind, and I swore that I would do my part to see that anyone else in my shoes would be made to feel the same way.
Aviation can be transient as it is, with people coming & going even during good times. With COVID and the massive turnover we’ve seen, there will be more than one person on the roster spending their first T-day at work.
My goal is to make them feel the way I did all those years ago.
P.S. I’m probably bringing chips.
P.P.S. That salad looks goooood!
When I was traveling alone in Thailand, I was pretty scared and nervous. I had quit my fancy job and chosen to go across the world to a kickboxing camp to train, lose weight and experience something different. I’ll always remember a select few people who opened themselves up to me immediately, gave me a seat at their table for dinner and made me feel welcome. It was very easy to spot a new person at this ‘camp’ we were all living in. So it was mighty kind of them. They could have just let me sit alone or ignored me. I’ll never forget how important that feeling was, so I tried to pay that same feeling forward.
I changed cities recently and a friend helped me tremendously by letting me stay with him for an extra few days as my furniture took too long to arrive. This thread made me think of that experience with a lot of gratitude. Thank you!
Holly, Too funny about the chicken wing dip. My husband wants to make it and I was so confused. LOL. So glad to know this is a thing. Have a Happy Thanksgiving.
I've been seeing a lot of pro-canned cranberry sauce content on the internet lately and I NEED to make my case for homemade cranberry sauce. I grew up eating the canned stuff, but once my family tried making it ourselves, we collectively saw the light. Not only is cranberry sauce probably the easiest side dish to cook (throw everything in a pot and stir! Done!), but it is infinitely more delicious than anything you can get from a can. And that is my official stance on cranberry sauce. Thank you.
Your food descriptions look SO GOOD.