This year is an important one, no doubt. But I think everybody can agree that the presidential election has been nothing but headache-inducing. Many articles have been published online—on more websites than Her Campus—preaching the importance of voting. But if you wanted to take your mind off of election day and focus on other important matters, now is the best time to remind you of the rest of the upcoming holidays. Rather than stewing over the current political havoc and arguing on who to vote for, here are some polls I created that YOU can participate in, view the results of, and have a—hopefully mild—feud over when at the dinner table with your family.
1. Which is the better dish: turkey or ham?
Did you know that the technical term for a Turkey’s gobble (the fleshy piece that hangs from its nose) is referred to as a “snood”? Research has concluded that it has no primary function, but that the male turkey’s snood will engorge with blood while he struts.
2. On the topic of turkey, does it make you sleepy?
This should be a common effect of this protein. One of the twenty amino acids present in turkey is tryptophan, which is said to cause drowsiness. If you are susceptible to this effect, now you know the source of your food comas.
3. Should a Christmas tree be put up before or after Thanksgiving?
Personally, this move of early decorating is not my style. Black Friday, at the earliest, is when a Christmas tree should be put on its stand. But who am I to judge your immoral ways?
4. Do you wrap gifts?
Some might be unaware that several pounds (roughly 2.3 million) of wrapping paper expires in landfills. Even more shocking is the amount Americans spend on the supply. A study from 2016 reveals the number to be 7 billion.
5. Which pie is a must-have at the holiday dinner table? Apple, Pumpkin, or Pecan.
There is a place in New Mexico dubbed “Pie Town” after a bakery from the 1920s began their business there. Every year on the secondary Saturday of September, the area holds its own pie festival. If you’re a baker near the New Mexico area, I highly recommend attending.
6. Do you deck your halls or keep it simple?
A statistic from 2015 claims that the energy consumption from Christmas lights in America holds enough power to run 14 million refrigerators!
7. Do you hang a pickle ornament in your Christmas tree?
While a lesser-known tradition in America, you still might find this festive fruit hanging in your tree during the holidays. This tradition arises from a German tale about a wicked innkeeper keeping two boys in a barrel of pickles until both were rescued by St. Nicholas.
8. Have you ever spun a dreidel?
Each letter marked on a dreidel actually represents a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Together, each letter (Nun, Gimel, Hay, and Shin) constructs the phrase “A great miracle happened there/here.”
9. Would you rather watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade or football on your TV?
Something you might not know is that the Thanksgiving Parade floats have also had their fair share of injuries, even more, drastic than some football players. In 1997, one balloon struck a lamppost and left four attendees injured. One of these people included a woman who endured a month-long coma.
10. POV: You’re at the dinner table with the fam and your crazy uncle starts rambling about his political views. Do you surrender your chair for “seconds”, or do you prepare to debate?
The more important question: which family member would be holding you back?
11. Be honest, is your food store-bought or made from scratch?
The average person consumes roughly 3,000 calories at the dinner table on Thanksgiving, but that information can stay between you and me.
12. Do you dress up for the holidays or keep it casual?
Whether you dress up or down, one pro tip I can give is to always have a pair of sweatpants on hand. You don’t know how much you can take until your stomach tells you.
13. Do you end up with leftovers or do you come down with food comas and empty dishes?
To no surprise, Thanksgiving is one of the biggest days of food waste. Just last year, an estimated 200 pounds of turkey was left uneaten.
14. Do you leave cookies for Santa?
On Christmas Eve I distinctly remember my family using pizza as a substitute for cookies, which we forgot to buy. Nevertheless, the plate was empty the following morning and left my mother cheering that Santa must have loved the change in his diet.
15. Which Christmas movie is superior: Elf, A Christmas Story, The Grinch, or National Lampoons Christmas Vacation?
Elf appears as such a seamless film, favored by families everywhere. One thing you were probably never informed of was that the original actors to play Baby Buddy were fired. Their incessant crying and refusal to crawl made the twin boys “difficult to work with” and resulted in them being replaced with brunette triplets who were deemed much perkier.
16. POV: You have one more Swiss Miss (hot cocoa) packet at your disposal. Do you mix it with milk or water?
Hot chocolate was not originally a holiday-centered creation. It’s initial purpose pertained to medical help in early Mesoamerica and was believed to have healing properties.