Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Fat Tuesday...last day of indulgence?

The station that I listen to in the morning has a discussion going on about today being Fat Tuesday.

Today is basically the day that Catholics select something to give up for the next 40 days. As a non-Catholic I've never had to take this type of denial. But what would you give up? The station's website has a poll going on it asking what would be the hardest thing to give up.

* Blackberry/Cellphone?
* Internet?
* TV?
* Dessert?

Which one of these items would be the hardest thing for you to give up? For myself, the hardest thing to give up would be the internet. I work through the internet. You know, I work from home so I need internet access to log into all the places I need to get things done. The easiest thing for me to give up would be dessert. I enjoy desserts when I eat them, but I don't eat them much. I guess that's why I enjoy them so much. I relish in it when I do indulge. Hmmm...

Right now is also time for those who follow Catholicism to give up meat on Fridays until Easter. In high school I was one of the only Filipino people who would be eating a cheeseburger on Fridays. You should have see the LOOK on people's faces of my fellow Filipinos when they'd see me munch into a burger.
Them: Grace! It's FRIDAY! No meat!
Me: No worries. I'm not Catholic.
Y'all it was so funny at the look of shock on their faces. A non-Catholic Filipino? The horror! My family was maybe one of less than a handful of Filipino families in our community that weren't Catholic. Of course, I knew all the other families that weren't Catholic. We were the ones who had meat on Fridays during Lent. We were the ones who didn't have to go to CCD in the middle of the week. We were the ones who didn't have to go to Midnight Mass on Christmas. Yeah. We were different. What's funny is that I never cared or even noted the difference in my family's religion than anyone else's until I got to high school.

So are you giving up anything during Lent? Even if you aren't Catholic, do you choose to give something up?

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