While the news today is a bit thinner than usual as half the nation's journalists and media members are all either headed out the door for Thanksgiving vacation or have already left, that doesn't mean there isn't anything happening today. There is news, and we'll have all the links to today's latest events in our full version, either available later today in your e-mail box, or in our archived edition.
Today is the beginning of our Thanksgiving holiday, however, so we're remaining focused on all the things that make us happy and thankful. As we sit around our offices, sharing our favorite local pizzas with our staff and friends, one of those things we're most thankful for is each other.
Of course, we're also pretty geeked up about our favorite local pizzas.
Whether you're grabbing a slice at John's on 44th near Times Square in New York City or in Nebraska at Valentino's, in the D.C. metro area at Paisano's or at Grimaldi's in West Palm Beach, we hope you're doing it with some of the people you care most about in your life. These are all local or regional pizzarias, that we've had either personal or professional ties with over the years, and they serve some of our favorite food.
As much lip-service as Republicans give to small businesses, the fact is, small operations are what every real business started as, in America and all around the world - something Democrats, sensible Republicans, and virtually everyone around the world acknowledges.
All of the restaurants we listed above are great examples of successful small businesses, made up of people who work long hard hours and are generally less concerned with making piles of dough and more concerned with making great pizzas. We've checked, and to our knowledge, all these different restaurants will also be closed tomorrow on Thanksgiving - unlike certain large-scale retailers we mentioned on Tuesday.
Part of this weekend should be spent by all Americans to give thanks and to celebrate our joyful moments in life - for example, joy that we don't live in parts of Israel or the Palestinian territories, where we bet it might be a bit tough to get a good slice of pizza right now, cease fire or not.
Another part of this upcoming weekend will also likely involve some shopping. We hope you'll follow our lead, and put your dough into local retailers, wherever you happen to be, as part of the Small Business Administration's 'Small Business Saturday'. Big business American Express has lent a huge hand to the SBA in this venture (since, as a large credit card company, they make lots of money from small business too), effectively putting it on the map - but we appreciate their efforts to help small business owners too.
In that vein, to help small businesses, we ask that if you shop this weekend, shop local. That counts online too, as many small local retailers these days also give you the ability to buy some of their goods or pay for services online.
We hope you'll get out this weekend and experience great local businesses of all kinds, no matter where you are. If, in the course of your shopping, you happen to be able to grab a slice with people you care about at Lou Malnati's in Chicago, or Miceli's in L.A., or any of the other great local pizza places we mentioned?
Consider it just another moment in your life to be thankful for.
Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving.
