It Might Help to Pretend It Isn’t Thanksgiving [OPINION]

If you are capable of pretending COVID-19 isn't a real problem, you are equally capable of pretending it isn't Thanksgiving on Thursday.

I don't understand the drive to spend time with extended friends and family if it means possibly putting some of them in the hospital, and in a tiny number of related cases, into the grave.

COVID-19 is a serious disease and it spreads rapidly. It isn't clear exactly how the disease functions as a spreader and what it does in the long term to the people who survive the coronavirus. Lots of people survived the poliovirus, but they spent the rest of their life in an iron lung to breathe. President Franklin D. Roosevelt used a combination of braces, wheelchairs, personal wealth, and will power to move around after he contracted polio as an adult.

What would the Pilgrims do? The Pilgrims of Plymouth certainly understood the impact of disease even if they didn't understand the means of transmission. Do you think the Pilgrims would have sacrificed their personal well being if they were around today?

On a practical note, who is going to take care of you and your family if all of you are exposed to COVID-19 during Thanksgiving? Is everyone in your family going to quarantine for 14 days at home? We all like Thanksgiving but it won't seem worth it by Day Three of the forced family time, and by Day 10 you will wish you had stayed away from the family members.

And what about Thanksgiving 2021, when you have less family at the table and everyone is pointing fingers at each other for bringing the virus as a side dish the year before?

Chris McCarthy is the host of The Chris McCarthy Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon. Contact him at chris.mccarthy@townsquaremedia.com and follow him on Twitter @Chris_topher_Mc. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.