Thanksgiving Comes On-Line : Cyberspace Abuzz With Turkey Recipes, Supermarket Tips, Even Suggested Prayers

They swapped recipes for “turkey mystery loaf” and turkey tortillas, and gave tips on which supermarkets have special deals on frozen fowl and cases of Pepsi. They discussed the virtues of instant versus real mashed potatoes.

People even logged on to home computers to compare notes on what to say for grace over their holiday meal tonight.

Preparing for Thanksgiving in cyberspace may not quite be what the pilgrims had in mind, but people plugged into the Internet and other computer networks, such as America Online and CompuServe, to give thanks and chat across Orange County and the nation.

America Online’s “Attitude of Gratitude” bulletin board, for example, had more than 100 postings by late Wednesday, offering practical tips and philosophical wanderings from computer users across the country.

The Internet, a public network accessible by almost anyone with a connection, computer and modem, also turned into a forum for goodwill. Computer users who had “flamed” each other--or exchanged electronic insults--in the past used their computer connections to apologize or give thanks for friendships developed on-line.

Some signed on to complain about how their holiday plans to anyone who would listen--or rather, read.

“How many out there still have to sit at the ‘kids’ table’?” asked one America Online user. “Me and my cousins are 20 years old and don’t think we’ll ever graduate to the big table.”

And another: “This is the second Thanksgiving I have been sick in bed with mono.”

Vegetarians use such services to give their thoughts on the holiday’s distinctly carnivorous slant.

“I find it upsetting that so much is made out of eating turkey rather than offering thanks,” wrote one America Online vegetarian. The holiday “means more to me just eating the harvest that grows from the earth, and not from the factory farms where suffering is commonplace.”

From Southern California to the Old South, kitchen-dwellers discussed the local turkey bargains.

Vons, Ralphs or Lucky? Winn Dixie or Safeway? Everybody touted hometown bargains, from 27-cents-a-pound turkeys to offers of a free fowl with a $25 purchase.

Dozens of suggested prayers of Thanksgiving were transmitted along computer lines, with brevity a notable feature of many, such as “Good food, good meat, good God, let’s eat!” and “Rub a dub dub, thanks for the grub.”

Many computer users flung messages into cyberspace, hoping they would make it to their loved ones.

“We in the Los Angeles County area have a great deal to be thankful for after experiencing the Northridge earthquake,” wrote an America Online user.

Another said her house caught on fire during the Malibu blazes, and then was damaged in the Northridge earthquake. She still gives thanks, though, for the simplest reason: Family members are healthy and spending Thanksgiving together.