Do you observe Thanksgiving?

[overgeeked]

I realize it's your poll, but I wouldn't count those as "observing Thanksgiving," since many people in the US have it off from work/school regardless of how they feel about it.

Similarly my family is not Jewish, but my kids get Yom Kippur off from school, so we normally do something fun that day. I do not consider it "observing Yom Kippur."

I’d echo that.

Taking advantage of getting the day off in a country with little to no vacation time isn’t “observing the holiday.” Doing the specific holiday stuff or doing your own take on the holiday, sure.

We “observe” it in the OP’s overly broad sense, but we don’t observe it in any way remotely resembling the holiday. Mostly for similar reasons as OP. Immediate and extended family that is indigenous.

 

[MarkB]

The one that always seems weird to me as a Brit is Bonfire Night. On the one hand we're making a family event out of symbolically executing a person via immolation, with the kids being traditionally the ones to prepare the sacrifice. And on the other we're celebrating the failed detonation of our seat of government with a series of loud and spectacular explosions, which kinda has a feeling of "yeah, but it would've been really cool, wouldn't it?"

None of which really seems to enter the minds of most of the people who actually celebrate it - it's just a great excuse to eat junk food and watch pretty lights. And that's perfectly fine, but it still just feels weird.