Chelsea Evans
From North Park (Poet)
It was when I was eight. My mom had my dad's family over. He has a brother that was in a war. He was from the South, and...had a lot of personality. He had green beans on his plate with all the other food, and he smelled it first. This offended my mom a bit. My dad's whole family did stuff that was bothering her. But the final thing was when my little brother said 'F you' and my grandfather's response was, 'That's my boy.' "
Virginia Collins
From Orange County (DJ)
My first Thanksgiving with my husband. We got married at 15, and our parents kicked us out. So, we were poor and couldn't afford a big, nice meal. We had mashed potatoes and spaghetti. It was a good Thanksgiving because we were together. We've been married for 20 years.
Chris Vannoy
From South Park (Solar Turbines)
It was when my mother and father were at my sister-in-law's house. They didn't like her much. And there were other people there that didn't like other people, so everyone was in their own little spots and didn't talk to each other. It was very awkward for me. I was walking around, trying to go up and meet everyone. The next year it was at my house, so there were no problems.
Ashley Pacillo
From Bay Park (Waitress)
I don't think I've ever had really bad Thanksgivings. I had a really bad Christmas, when my brother passed away and my siblings fought over something one of them thought the other should've been given. I usually have to work on Thanksgiving, so that kind of sucks. The worst was when I worked at [a place] in Old Town because it was really busy. There were a lot of tourists from other countries, so maybe they didn't respect our holiday as much. They were ruder and didn't tip well. My friend, who I work with now, did bring me up a plate of food, though.
Kevin Daily
From Kearny Mesa (Sonar Technician)
It was in the '80s, up in Alaska in the Coast Guard, out to sea. There were 40-foot seas, and we were trying to hold on to our trays of turkey and dressing. The weather was cold. The food had been frozen for a few weeks or whatever, so it wasn't that fresh. You got a choice of milk or soda to drink. We did have a beer night once in a while, but not on Thanksgiving. And we only had an hour to eat. Half an hour if you were on watch.
Sarah Cusey
From Normal Heights (Nanny)
It was two years ago. We have four groups of families that meet for Thanksgiving. And I had been away for college. I hadn't been there for a while, and when I returned for this Thanksgiving, I realized they were all conservative Republicans. And we ended up having a lot of political debates during the meal. It wasn't the most comfortable or fun time I've had at a meal.