A Dark Christmas

This past Saturday, the United States passed a grim milestone of more than 12 million cases, with some 200,000 reported in one day. To date, we have seen about 257,000 Americans die from COVID-19 complications.

Yet, on Friday, TSA reports that more than 1 million people came through US airports to travel. As several states try to impose restrictions on holiday gatherings, many others post on various social media sites their plans to completely disregard said restrictions. They claim it is their right to gather for the Thanksgiving holiday with friends and family, and the state has no right to limit their interactions. It is likely that these are the same people who make their opposition to mask mandates well known, also claiming infringements of rights.

I am then left to wonder what the days following Thanksgiving will look like. The weekend after Thanksgiving is normally the busiest shopping of the year. With many unemployed, or uncertain of the continuation of their employment, will people spend less? In traditional fashion, will people flock to stores looking for those "good deals" ignoring advice to only make essential shopping trips?

The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas could prove to be a grim time if history is any indication. Following Thanksgiving 1918, this country saw a massive surge of influenza cases thanks to people not taking the pandemic seriously. Many are already faced with their first holiday missing loved ones. Many have died as a result of the pandemic...be it from complications due to the virus itself, or from taking their own lives unable to deal with the stress of being out of work, being in lockdown, or simply the entire year being too much for those with existing mental health issues!

If people do not take this pandemic seriously through this Thanksgiving holiday, we are likely to see many more "empty seats" at the Christmas table than the Thanksgiving table. Will this be enough of a wake-up call? It saddens me to think that I doubt even THIS will get people to take this pandemic seriously!

As I type this, my significant other and I have voluntarily gone on Thanksgiving week lockdown. We are trying to do our part. He using his vacation time from work. Sadly, I'm still unemployed. We have a fully stocked kitchen and have no need to leave our home. While I would love to visit my son and my grandchildren (who live in the same city), it simply isn't the smart thing to do right now.

As we emerge after this week, it will be with great caution. Any potential Christmas shopping will be online. I will probably only make trips to purchase groceries, and then limit them to once per week. My boyfriend will need to return to work for two weeks but then has more scheduled time off at the end of the year. Doing our part may not really help anyone else (as there are still so many not doing theirs), but we are at least safe.

If anyone reading this can be swayed, PLEASE reconsider your holiday plans if you are currently planning a more traditional holiday! While you may not be directly affected, you do not know how your actions may affect others. It is so easy to spread this illness and not even know you are spreading it.

A friend of mine and her significant other were being very careful, and both caught the virus. "But that just shows that being careful doesn't work!" While they were being careful, he still had to go to work, while she worked from home. At his workplace, there were customers who refused to wear masks and who would yell at him when he asked them to comply with the policies of his workplace. They are most certain it was one of these people that spread the virus to him, as there were no other weaknesses in their "armor"! They have been COVID-free for more than a month now, but neither are even close to being back to normal health! She cannot exercise at home for more than 10 minutes before having to quit, and she was in great shape before COVID. When he tried to return to work, his employer had to call EMS one day because he had such difficulty breathing. He is now on mandatory "sick leave" for at least 2-3 weeks for further recovery time, the whole while, NOT getting paid!

Because of the selfishness of one person, they are both living out the nightmare known as COVID!

I plead with you, do not be that selfish person. You can video call your relatives. If they don't know how to video call, talk to them on the phone the old fashioned way! Stay home...spend your Black Friday weekend online rather than in stores. Have a Thanksgiving Day movie marathon with just your immediate household while you eat your meal (and you can still have your meal... fewer people mean more yummy leftovers).

Please, just do your part so that this Christmas isn't a dark one!