What to do on Thanksgiving if You’re Single and have nowhere to go
For most people, being alone on Thanksgiving is not a good idea, therefore the best thing to do is to finagle an invitation to eat with someone else or their family; or barring that to attend a social type group Thanksgiving meal, such as those provided to people at churches or other organizations. This is assuming you don’t have a family to eat with because of distance or estrangement or some such thing, of course.
One of the reasons that many single people wind up alone on Thanksgiving is because they fall into the martyr routine. Instead of simply telling people they know that they have no place to go for Thanksgiving, they avoid the issue, or pretend they do actually have someplace to celebrate the holiday. Unless you are a social misfit that bothers people, there are likely many people that would welcome you into their home for Thanksgiving, if only to make themselves feel better for helping you out.
The fact is, most people enjoy being around other people for a big Thanksgiving meal. All the hustle and bustle and chatter make for an exciting time; even if it’s just because it’s a break from the normal hum-drum daily existence or regular life. So, get yourself invited by one of your co-workers, or friends, or even an acquaintance. Make it a goal of yours to get an invite, then prioritize a list of likely victims. You might try hinting around, or you might just ask outright, depending on the circumstances of your relationship to them; offer to bake a pie, or to bring some other thing that no one else would have thought of, or to bring along a game to play, or a gift; anything really, to make it worth their while.
If you are new in town though, and don’t know anyone, than it’s possible you may not be able to get an invitation to eat with someone else. In this case, start looking through the papers, there are almost always churches or other organizations putting on a Thanksgiving meal for those that are in a situation similar to you. Who knows, besides getting a meal, you might also meet some new people so you won’t have to be alone next year.
One final thing you might consider is heading over to a shelter and helping dish out food for the poor people who are worse off even than you. Doing so will give you some company, a good meal, and the glow of knowing you’ve done something for which others might be grateful on their Thanksgiving day.
