予陌生人的晚餐
本期主題
作者：by Laura T. Coffey
Scott Macaulay isn’t into selfpromotion. He’s never sought out media coverage. In fact， he likes it that most of the people he feeds each Thanksgiving don’t know his name.
On Thursday， for the 28th time， the Massachusetts man is preparing a full turkey dinner for a whole bunch of people he’s never met. His 70 or so guests — elderly people， cancer patients， 1）AA members， low-income people， atrisk teens， recently divorced people， widowed people and others — have one detail in common： Without Macaulay， they’d be alone on Thanksgiving.
“Eh， what I do isn’t a big deal， really，”.“I put some birds in the oven， boil some mashed potatoes.
“I mean， c’mon. I’m a dumb 2）dodo bird who fixes vacuum cleaners for a living. I’ve got nothing to offer except time， and some birds I can get for 69 cents a pound. I just don’t want people to be stuck at home feeling rotten.”
Macaulay’s unconventional Thanksgiving tradition began in 1985， right around the time his parents decided to get divorced. The holidays got messy that year， and Macaulay， who was 24 at the time， sensed he’d be spending Thanksgiving alone.
It was a terrible feeling.
“The thought of eating a TV dinner by myself， or even cooking a Thanksgiving meal for one person — no thank you，” he recalled.“Thanksgiving isn’t about fireworks or band concerts or 3）hoopla. It’s a celebration around a table with food. It’s not fun to do that by yourself.”
Macaulay placed an ad in his local paper， the Melrose Free Press， with a simple message： If people thought they might be alone on Thanksgiving， they could give Macaulay a call. Come hang out. Come eat.
A few people showed up at Macaulay’s place that first year. It was nice. So he placed another ad the following year， and the year after that.
The event kept growing to accommodate more people： Blind people with guide dogs， newcomers to the country who didn’t speak much English， police officers and 4）EMTs who had to work on Thanksgiving， nursing-home residents eager for a change of scenery.
“Every year there’s somebody who helps me keep doing it，” Macaulay said. “One year a woman came up to me and told me she had cancer and she was supposed to die. She had just finished her chemo and was getting her hair back. She told me， ‘I actually have an appetite and I’m feeling very thankful to be alive， so I wanted to come to your dinner.’”