I hereby institute the position of Thanksgiving Grinch.
The holiday forces us to ….
… enact certain behaviors. Eat a big meal with family.
… eat certain foods. A turkey.
… feel a certain way. Thankful.
~~~
What if you live far from your family and do not have the time &/or money to go home?
What if you live near your family but don’t get along?
What if you don’t like turkey?
~~~
What if you’ve had a terrible year and are not feeling grateful, thank you very much?
What if you’ve had a terrific year but object to being told how to feel by a greeting card?
What if being told to feel grateful immediately triggers feelings of guilt? Are you grateful? Are you grateful enough? Why aren’t you grateful? Be grateful d*mm*t.
~~~
Maybe you have bad memories of Thanksgiving.
Maybe you have memories of bad things that happened around Thanksgiving.
Maybe you are from a country that does not have the tradition of everything coming to a halt on Thursday and you’d really rather just get on with your week.
~~~
Bah, humbird!
Update. Additions
Maybe you are not of a mind to celebrate the arrival of Europeans in the Americas. (A more socially conscious person would have thought of this earlier.)
Per comments
What if you have good memories but you miss those times?
Thanksgiving ushers in the Christmas monster. What if you are one of over 30% of Americans who are not Christian?
What if your family is gone?
Bah, humbird!
Onwards!
Katherine
Virtual Brush Box 
Thank you.
I spend Thanksgiving wishing I had the traditional family gathering we used to have.
I know it’s no longer possible but watching parades on TV is a poor substitute.
I’m grateful for all that I have and it’s a lot.
But The Holiday Season is difficult for me.
Thank you for putting it in words.
Jane
Same. And then we get into everything Christmas which is hard when you aren’t Christian. Very slow time of year for me. AV
What if you have no family left, and only miss a few of them? It’s just a thursday, who cares?
Comments incorporated above. Thank you.