With Thanksgiving just around the corner, Mount Carmel’s offensive linemen are ready to experience the holiday in its entirety.
Thanksgiving as a holiday is all about what people are thankful for, spending time with family, and most importantly, food. Turkey, dressing, gravy, macaroni and cheese, and mashed potatoes are all holiday favorites. From the large spreads of food to the high demand for said foods, grocery stores and food sellers take a large hit every year in supply. What they haven’t accounted for this year was the Caravan’s offensive line’s collective appetite.
“I really don’t see any issues with what's going on,” said senior and offensive lineman Matthew McCool. “We just got enough food to cover the appetizers this past week.”
The Caravan are fighting for a fifth consecutive state championship in football, and achievements like that aren’t obtained without a bond between teammates. From braving the trenches in games to long group study sessions to pass their tests, the football team has been together for a lot. Now they’ve decided to have one more bonding session before the end of playoffs. Eating together as a team for Thanksgiving was the perfect idea for them but wasn’t the best outcome for all the stores involved.
Many supermarkets are running out of food simply because of the quantity at which the Caravan are buying from them. Some have even reported employees gaining PTSD due to the amount of linemen entering the store at one time.
“It was terrible,” says MC senior and Walmart employee Alex Kazmierczak, “There was a stampede of them. There was nothing we could do.”
Effects aren’t just limited to civilians though.
“I don’t know what I’m gonna do,” said junior Joseph Handy. “They’re not sharing any food, and I’m on the football team.”
The recently re-elected governor, J.B Pritzker is working to make up for these food losses. He has been working on an overall fund for offensive linemen across the state to make sure things like this don’t happen again.