Thanksgiving 2025: Feasting for 15 Minutes

Andy Warhol famously said that in the future, everyone would be famous for fifteen minutes. My take is that today, on Thanksgiving, everyone will be feasting for 15 minutes. And not a minute longer.

I don’t know about your family, but that’s our situation. I noticed it last year during two meals (Joe and I had one Thanksgiving feast at my sister’s and another at his sister’s).

After weeks of anticipation, planning, and craving, followed by shopping, prepping, roasting, mashing, and carving, the big feast takes roughly a quarter of an hour to devour. If your family extends the eating part of Thanksgiving longer than that, I salute you. Either you eat more slowly or have a larger stomach capacity.

Yes, my family (usually) extends the big feast by going around and giving thanks. Someone typically says they are grateful for the meal and the person who prepared it. 

But even with all that, even after a second helping, we still hit an unavoidable plateau.

I asked my sister-in-law about this irony last year to get her opinion. “It’s a tradition,” she replied tersely. As the person responsible for shopping, prepping, roasting, and mashing, I sensed a slight edge in her voice. Because after fifteen minutes of eating, there’s about two hours of cleanup.

Better than the main event?

Many people enjoy the turkey sandwiches after the big feast more than the first round. I strongly suspect this is because so little pomp and expectation accompany these sandwiches. They are, after all, mere sandwiches. Eating a turkey sandwich may also take only fifteen minutes, but there is nothing to feel guilty about.

Of course, Thanksgiving's significance extends far beyond the chow-down. It is the greatest American holiday with the most profound meaning. The pilgrims were really on to something when they started the tradition of giving thanks, even if the original harvest feast and Thanksgiving set up the holiday as a food-centric event. I wonder if they could eat for more than fifteen minutes.

I am grateful for this day of thanks. The eating may be fleeting, but it is meaningful. 

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Now go and gobble and see if you can make it last.

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