Try to avoid it all you like, but drama at the Thanksgiving table is an inevitability. So this year, just go ahead and embrace it. But rather than raise your voice at the cousin who launches into a MAHA tirade when you ask her to pass the mashed potatoes, come to the table prepared with conversation starters that focus on local drama rather than national chaos.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Here are seven recommendations, taken from The Standard\u2019s own reporting, for topics that keep the conversation lively \u2014 and Trump-free! \u2014 until the tryptophan kicks in and everyone nods off in a dark-meat-induced food coma.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Good luck getting through it, and happy Thanksgiving!<\/p>\n
Oops: They bought a Dirt Alley<\/a><\/p>\n See if your fellow guests heard the one about the Sunset couple who thought they\u2019d pulled off a coup by purchasing a $1 million lot at auction for only $25,000. Turned out, they\u2019d neglected to read the fine print and wound up with an unbuildable dirt driveway<\/a>. Now their only recourse is petitioning the Board of Supervisors to overturn the sale.<\/p>\n Be prepared: Nothing riles \u2019em up like real estate schadenfreude \u2014 especially in a city with more than a few inaccessible parcels<\/a> \u2014 but that can easily boomerang. After all, SF has plenty of homeowners who sue PG&E<\/a> over a telephone pole.<\/p>\n Take a stand on influencers<\/a><\/p>\n Local food influencers have caused more than a few social media shitstorms this year. No longer content to accept free meals in exchange for fulsome praise, some went on the warpath<\/a>, attacking chefs and closing at least one restaurant<\/a>, seemingly without regard for the workers who became collateral damage. When we wrote that food influencers had to be stopped<\/a>, the emails poured in. So many strong feelings (on both sides).\u00a0<\/p>\n Be prepared: Your niece or nephew might be an aspiring content creator. Keep an eye out for Gen Zers who move the centerpiece to make way for a tripod-mounted light ring.<\/p>\n Shock out-of-towners with an NSFW love story<\/a><\/p>\n SF\u2019s kink scene is notorious. Solicit your dinner companions\u2019 thoughts on the wholesome family that resulted from an infamous gang bang<\/a>. Read our full interview with the fluffer who became a mother after meeting her fiance at an orgy she threw for her then-boyfriend\u2019s other girlfriend.<\/p>\n Be prepared: Some people might not know that gang bangs can be consensual, so take this opportunity to educate. There\u2019s even a handy flowchart to help with visuals.<\/p>\n A little light antichrist talk with Peter Thiel<\/a><\/p>\n When billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel delivered a series of lectures at the Commonwealth Club that laid out American politics as a form of spiritual warfare, we took readers behind the scenes of the closed-door lectures by interviewing the audience<\/a>. Their reviews were mixed. Some wanted seed capital for their sperm-racing startups; others were bored. Pose this question to the group: Could climate activist Greta Thunberg really be the devil\u2019s lieutenant, as Thiel reportedly contends?\u00a0<\/p>\n Be prepared: If you\u2019re looking to keep things Trump-free, this could get dicey because of Thiel\u2019s long relationship with Vice President JD Vance. Not today, Satan!<\/p>\n The one about dining out(rage)<\/a><\/p>\n Bring the table together over a topic everyone can agree on: Restaurant prices are too damn high! Then ask if they\u2019ve heard how the prices are upsetting even chefs<\/a> themselves. Debate: Is a $75 bowl of cioppino or $25 glass of wine<\/a> an accurate reflection of the cost of ingredients, labor, and other factors, or just a complete rip-off?\u00a0<\/p>\n Be prepared: People love to share dining horror stories, and those horror stories are often full of hearsay and one-upmanship. Just steer clear of Yelping the potluck in front of you.<\/p>\n The unfortunate tale of the Waymo vs. KitKat<\/a><\/p>\n Sure, out-of-town visitors might be excited to try a robot car, but be sure to dampen their enthusiasm with the tale of the beloved Mission feline named KitKat<\/a> who got run over by a Waymo last month. Who\u2019s responsible when driver-less vehicles do ghoulish things? Does Waymo\u2019s safety record \u2014 better than the abysmal one of human drivers\u00a0 \u2014 make this whole story moot?\u00a0<\/p>\n Be prepared: One SF supervisor worked to make political hay<\/a> about KitKat\u2019s death. Mawkish sentiment, or valid observation about our clanker<\/a>-filled city? You decide.<\/p>\n Our Lady of the Embarcadero<\/a><\/p>\n It\u2019s not really Thanksgiving without a spirited back-and-forth over the aesthetic merits of a 45-foot Burner constructed from stainless steel mesh. Beautiful public art or pseudo-feminist \u201cplop<\/a>\u201d? Either way, Marco Cochrane\u2019s \u201cR-Evolution<\/a>\u201d will be looming over the foot of Market Street until at least March.<\/p>\n